A New Hope
by OneMoreTragicEnding
Summary: "Aren't you scared of being alone?" "More than you know." Some people have the best luck... and some have the worst. SoRoku giftfic for Scarletnight13 Rated for chapter 4! :D
1. A New Hope

Well, thank you all for stopping by, I am naturally bored right now with a brain fart sitting there and waiting to be shown to the world. It is a request from Scarletnight13, so this story is for their enjoyment, I think XD Oh, and by the way... I'm making the intro chapter long, not sure if the others will be as long as this...

Sora: We've been chosen as the cast! Yay!

Roxas: What do you expect? She's crazily obsessed with us.

That I am. Enjoy _A New Hope_. I don't know why I do this to myself XD

_Summary: "Aren't you scared of being alone?" "More than you know." Some people have the best luck... and some have the worst._

Phlyx: Wow I haven't shown up in a while! Herro everyone! One of An-Chan's alter eego's is here! **Warnings:** Mild yaoi (Which is all that is planned for now), Shounen-Ai, SoRoku, yada yada. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>A New Hope<strong>

_Roxas_

I remember having a friend as a child, a very kind person, really. He looked like a smaller version of an angel, with blue eyes that shone like the sea and brown hair that rivaled the earth. But that was ages ago, back when I was five, right before he moved and we never got to speak again. And now, I think I'm looking at his exact replica.

I don't remember the boy's name. But it sounded like mine a little, but it was different, too. Anyways.

This is my first day at a brand new school, right in the smack middle of the year, of my Senior year. _Woo. hoo._

So naturally I'm nervous. I already know where everything is, mostly because I was invited here by the principal during Spring Break - it is the second week of March right now, meaning everyone is fresh from Spring Break - to take a tour. He's kind enough.

But I know I won't have anyone be nice to me. I'm the new kid of the town, of the school, on his last year. So everyone's probably wondering _Why did he even bother changing schools?_

My father is an Officer in the Military, and therefore, we move around a lot. I've been everywhere in North America. My mother died a long time ago though.

Anyways, I'm keeping out of the way, glasses pushed up to try and hide my face more. I had to get them for some reason, yet I have 20-20 vision. But I don't say a word, I just do as I'm told. I push through the crowd, earning some protests and some other crude remarks as I pass, books in hand as I step through the doorway of my class. It's not that I'm early, not at all. It's just that a lot of people are taking their bittersweet time. I take the seat pointed to me by the advanced Biology teacher, not saying a word, just nodding my thanks as I sit on the stool and push my glasses higher on my nose a little, taking my book from my small pile of belongings and opening it to a certain page, keeping to myself as I read.

Dimly I hear the late bell ring.

I can hear the teacher sigh.

"Sora Hikari, how many times will I have to tell you to come in on time?" He sighs. I lift my eyes up to see a brunette with an eyebrow pierced and his lips curved into a mischievous grin, cerulean eyes laughing.

"Ah, but then that would make it boring, now wouldn't it, sir?" He asks, and he walks into class, taking the seat beside me.

His entire composure just about screams bad. My mom would have had a fit.

Thinking about my mother usually gets me in a depressed mood, so I return to my reading, not bothered by the presence beside me. The man at the front desk stands, gesturing to an overhead he's had on the whiteboard for a while. I look at it, closing the cover of the book without bother of putting a bookmark, taking out a well worn spiral notebook and a pen, and I start to jot them down.

_I wonder how she's doing._ I ask myself as I write down everything about DNA from the overhead. _I hope she's happy where she is, without dad and I._

"Can someone tell me how many chromosomes a human has in one cell?" I hear one or two hands lift up, and I choose to ignore the question as I start to aimlessly doodle on my notebook. It's work we've reviewed already in my old school.

"Care to give it a try, Mr. Strife?" He asks. I look up at him, pencil hovering an inch from the lined paper.

"Fourty-six." I tell him gently, returning to my doodle. He makes a sound of approval.

"Can you explain what a cell is, and what a DNA is for?" He asks me. I sigh gently.

"A cell is a micro-organism which is the base of the mollecular structure of a living organism." I look up from my paper, hating the fact that I can never appear 'less than perfect' in front of people. "Dioxyribonucleic Acid is a code shaped as a double-helix that holds four nucleic acids; Adenine, Thyamine, Cytosine and Guanine." (A.N.: Ahah, I said the exact same thing to my science teacher. Was embarassed as hell when he said it was the best answer he'd gotten all day)I look back down to my doodles, scratching them out.

"Well put." He says, pacing the front of the room. "Now who can tell me..."

* * *

><p>I slowly pack up as the bell sounds. The class quickly empties, and I notice that the boy sitting next to me is still there, looking at me. Waiting.<p>

I look around myself, noticing that no one but he and I are left. I point my thumb at me, and, smirking, he nods. With my eyebrows creased I ask:

"Can I help you... uhh... Sora, was it?" I ask, picking up my binder. He shrugs, leaning a little forward and giving me a look of scruntiny.

"Hold on." He reaches and I flinch back instinctively, making him grin, but instead he removes my glasses. I raise an eyebrow. "You don't need glasses." He remarks.

"No... but I have to wear them for some reason." I say, taking them back, confusion leaking over, but no questions come to mind.

"Don't wear them." He says, grabbing his binder. He's easily half an inch taller than me. "They make you look funny."

"Are you going to make fun of me? Because if so, then I'll just go." I say once I get through the door of the class. There aren't many people around.

"Sorry." He shrugs. "I guess I can be a bit of an ass." He follows me, making me sigh as I stop by my locker. I open the door and place my stuff inside. "What brings you to Dusk City so late in the year?" He asks.

"My father got transferred." I say simply, closing the door again, holding a new binder, one for a High Litterature course.

"Oh, and one more thing..." He says as he leans against the lockers. I look over my shoulder at him, already on my way. I'd left my glasses in my locker. "I never caught your first name."

"Roxas." I say, turning back around and walking away from the freaky teenager who looks like the bad, but doesn't really have the attitude for it.

_Could be just an image._ I think to myself, going up the staircase to the second floor. _Then again, he looks capable of killing a bird with his hands. There I go again, judging people. No wonder I never have any friends._

I sigh to myself as I reach the next class right as the bell rings, stepping inside. The woman sitting at the desk reading a novel see's me, and she smiles.

"You must be Roxas." She says with a kind smile. "There's really only one place left, and I hate to put a kid such as you with such a clean record there, but..."

"Let me guess." I say softly; I don't speak loudly to adults, really. "Sora sits there."

"How'd you know?" She asks as she gets up to write the day's plan on the blackboard. I sit down on the chair, sighing.

"Lucky guess." I think this will be one hell of a long day.

* * *

><p>"Well, this is fairly boring now, isn't it?" I squeak, not really intending on making such a... girly sound but unable to help myself as I'm caught off-guard. All the books and papers I'd been holding drop from my hands and onto the floor, scattering.<p>

"Gods, could you be any more frightening?" I snap a little irritably. I hate getting scared with a fiery passion. Sora simply shrugs, leaning against the lockers as I crouch on my toes to retrieve my papers. "You know, you could offer to help."

"It's more fun watching other people do it," he chuckles, and I frown to myself. "And besides, you seem like if you enjoy picking up things from the ground."

Behind me, someone snickers as they pass by. I stiffen, turning my eyes up to glare at him.

"What the fuck happened to the 'not an ass' you told me about earlier?" I demand harshly, stuffing a piece of paper littered with doodles into my binder quite roughly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he says casually, looking in front of him. I narrow my eyes, getting up and stuffing my things into the locker, slamming the door shut.

"Well, when you decide to stop being a jackass, come find me. I can't stand people who can't act how they want in public just because they're afraid of ruining their image." I see him flinch slightly as I glare at him, shouldering my backpack and turning around on my heels. I can hear him shrug off the lockers and follow me, but I hold back my tongue and ignore him.

I turn towards the little park by the school once I'm outside, finding a bench with a lot of shade and sitting down. I don't look at him as I put my bag beside me and unzip it, taking out a pencil, some paper, and my lunch. I bite down on my sandwich, drawing random things on the paper as I do so; I see him fidget out of the corner of my eyes.

"If you don't have anything worthwhile to say," I start, and he flinches again. "Then you can fuck off, Sora."

Instead of doing that, though, he sighs and sits on the bench beside me. I continue to ignore him.

"Look," he says, and I raise an eyebrow, not looking at him. "It's just that if I don't act that way in front of people, they..."

His voice fades into silence as I look at my doodles, most of them pretty insignificant, but one of them stands out a little. It's pretty dark and crude, but the shapes are familiar to me. And in the front...

"But I can see you really can't stand me, so I'll just go back to school, okay?" Sora gets up, and my hand snaps up and grabs his wrist. A startled yelp escapes his lips, and I turn my eyes to the school. A red car that was not there moments before is now parked in the front, and a man steps out.

"No!" I say hurriedly, and he stares at me in confusion. I look back to the man, and he disappears into the school. "No, why don't we go do something?"

He raises his eyebrows in disbelief, before roaring with laughter. I frown, letting go of his wrist and stuffing the papers and my pencil into my bag. My half-eaten lunch goes into the trashcan beside me.

"I never thought you would say such a thing - you strike me as such a goody-two-shoes." He chuckles, wiping tears from his eyes. He puts his hands on the backrest on either side of me, leaning towards me. "What's up, Roxy?~"

"Don't call me that," I say, frowning and putting my hands on his chest. I push him back, standing and shouldering my bag. "And stay out of my personal space."

"So cold," he pouts, flinching before giving me a shit-eating grin. "But really, why?"

I see another man step out of the car, carrying two excessively large gym bags and going after his buddy.

"Maybe if you show me you're not a jerk," I say, coming up with a quick lie. "I'll put up with your asshole attitude at school."

He smiles, following after me as I go in the opposite direction of the school. "So exactly what do you have in mind we do?" He asks, pausing beside me as I wait for the walk signal. "Unless you want us to get caught foxing."

"I don't know," I answer, looking at him. His lip piercing glints in the sunlight as he smiles wider.

"Somewhere secluded, I bet would be best," he says with a grin, tongue darting out to lick his lips. The small glint of a steel ball on his tongue flashes in my vision for a moment as he does so, before he retracts it. He notices me staring, and raises an eyebrow. "See something you like?" He asks. I huff, stalking down the road as the walk signal flashes.

He follows behind me, and I swear I can feel his grin. _He's got a fucking tongue piercing... I wonder if he did it behind his parent's back..._

"How many of those do you have, really?" I ask him, turning towards the town center, where there are many places to hide from the Disciplinary Comittee while skipping. "Those piercings, I mean."

"Seven," he chuckles, making my eyes go wide. "Two on each ear, one on my left eyebrow, one on my lip, one on my tongue."

"Here, I think this place is safe enough..." I say, walking towards the cinema. He mock gasps, making me pause and look at him skeptically.

"Roxy, I just met you and you're already taking me out on a date? For shame," he tsk's, making me stare at him in bewilderment.

"You moron!" I snap, glaring at him. "I just don't want... to get caught!" I say, faltering a moment.

"Sure, sure. You're paying." He grins, and I turn around before I decide to slap the boy. I instead walk up to the ticket booth, taking my wallet out of my back pocket and flipping it open.

"Two tickets, please." I ask stoically, and the woman looks up from the book she's reading. She silently hands me the tickets and I give her the money - twenty bucks, bloody vultures - before turning to Sora. I shove him his. "Here you go, asshole." I mutter.

"Why, thank you, Roxy!" He says, acting as if I've just given him a thousand dollars.

"Stop calling me that!" I snap, fuming. He laughs.

"You look cute when you're angry." I feel my cheeks heat up at that comment... such an embarassing statement, but he says it so casually.

"Fuck you," I mutter, stalking off without him. He keeps pace, his laugh following me.

* * *

><p><em>To your grave I spoke,<br>Holding a red red rose.  
>Gust of freezing cold air<br>__Whispers to me  
>That you are gone...<em>

"What do you want?" I ask, trying to ignore him. Sora grins, his music blasting from the earbud hanging loosely, resting on his chest. The other one is securely in place in his left ear. I sigh.

"You know," he starts, looking to the sky and leaning back against the park bench we're on. I find myself unable to return to my book, so I snap it shut and stuff it back in my bag. I look at him. "There are a lot of people at school that are interested in you."

"That's impossible," I scoff, frowning. "I just transferred this morning."

"Not only girls, though. Some guys are curious, too." I choke on my breath as he says that.

"What? But I'm not-"

"One of the reasons I'm being so persistantly around you," he grins at his words. "Is because I overheard a few guys talking about stalking you... and if that didn't work, they'd resort to other things. They're scared of me."

_You shouldn't,_ I think, looking to the sky as well. He looks at me. _Everyone around me gets hurt._

_Always, always asking questions  
>My life is overrated but I<br>Never, never expected that I  
>Underestimated my love for you<em>

"And though you don't swing that way," he says, making me look at him. He holds my gaze. "They'd find a way... those three are a nasty trio."

"You sound like if you know them," I reply, breaking his gaze first. I look anywhere but at him, not wanting to hold that intense cerulean gaze anymore.

"I've done things I'm not proud of, yes." He says, frowning. The sky begins to change to a glorious pink hue as I watch it, marking the sunset. "Come on, Roxy, I think it's safe we leave."

I look at him as he stands up, offering his hand to help me up. I take it, not really there as he pulls me up. He laughs, a small and gentle laugh, not like the crude ones I've gotten used to all day. I blink at him, before taking back my hand and realizing that, by not paying attention, I was leaning on him slightly.

"Sorry," I say, beginning to walk towards the sidewalk. "I wasn't paying attention."

"You'd better rid yourself of that bad habit, Roxy~" He sings, coming into pace beside me.

_To your grave I spoke  
>Holding a red red rose<br>Gust of freezing cold air  
>Whispering to me, you're gone.<em>

"And why is that?" I ask, looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Because someone might do this to you," he chuckles.

Pushing me right into the large fountain to my left. I let out a yelp as the icy cold water meets my back, instinctively grabbing his arm and dragging him in with me as I try to find some leverage. He hadn't been expecting that as he falls with me, a curse falling from his lips.

"Fucking ass..." I growl, the breath knocked out of me. He groans, shifting and driving the air out of my lungs once more.

"That didn't go as well as I'd planned," he mutters, lifting his head up. He's lying on top of me, his arm still tightly held by my hand as I try to get my breath back. He looks at me, and I glare at him. "It's a nice position for you, though."

Heat finds my cheeks as my heart pumps fresh blood into them, and I let go of his arm, pushing on his shoulders to get him _off_. He chuckles.

"Now, that's not how it works, Roxy." He grins, finger running along my neck. My eyes narrow at him as my face combusts further.

"Get _off_!" I snap, pushing harder. He chuckles.

"I'm only teasing," he grins, pushing himself off me. He holds a hand to help me up, but I help myself up instead, glaring at him and trying to force down the blush.

_Fucking ass. _

"Did you enjoy that, by any chance?" He teases, leaning towards me as I try to wring the water from my shirt a little. New blood is pumped into my face as it gets redder.

"Fuck no!" I snap shakily, shaking the water from my hair.

_"So then, why are you blushing?" _He asks, grinning. I frown.

"Because that was embarassing!" I snap. _That's what it was... don't get any idea's._

_Always, always out of reach from my  
>Over-frustrated, shameful hands<br>And I never, never expected that I  
>Would ever, no never take for granted our prescious time.<em>

"And now you got me all wet!" I finish, glaring at him. "Gods help you if you got my stuff wet..."

"How could you?" He gasps, grinning behind his hands. "Shout such a private thing, that is."

"You..." I grind my teeth, glaring at him. He laughs. "Mother fucker."

"You love me anyways, Roxy!" He laughs, putting his arm around my shoulders. I glare at him. It seems I'll be doing a lot of that with him around.

"I just want to go home," I mutter, shouldering my bag and shrugging his arm off. "Okay?"

"Hey, it was your idea to skip school in the first place, Roxy." He holds his hands up, before following after me.

"Stop calling me that!"

* * *

><p><em>It's all his fault,<em> I think to myself, mumbling incoherent words as I walk down the staircase. The insistant ringing of the goddamn doorbell continues as I make my way over. _Because of his little 'trick,' I got a fucking cold._

I open the white double door, not looking out the window before doing so. My face falls as I see who it is, and I desperately try to close the door again.

"Fuck off!" I snap, my voice coming out odd because of my damn sticks his foot in the minute space between the door and the frame, stopping it from closing. "Don't you live something like five minutes from school? What the hell are you doing here, fifteen minutes away from your own goddamn house?"

"I had it in my heart to backtrack, so I could walk with you to school." He says, sounding genuinely hurt. "Wait... are you sick?"

"No fucking duh!" I growl. "Who's fault is that?"

"Look, I'm sorry about that," he says, making me falter in the pushing of the door. "I was honestly just teasing."

He pushes the door open a little bit, bringing me back to reality. I push hard on it.

"I don't fucking care! I'm still pissed off at you!" I say, clamping my eyes shut. _Go away, just go away. You'll get hurt, like all the others._

He removes his foot, which makes the door slam shut. My teeth rattle as my back is jarred by the impact, since I was pushing at it with my back.

"Alright," he says gently, making me open my eyes. _Why does he sound so hurt? _"I'll see you around, Roxas."

I hear him begin to walk away. My thoughts go from _About fucking time!_ to _I'm being a jerk to him... pushing him away when I don't even know if he'll get hurt._

"Wait, Sora!" I call, opening the door. He's already almost across the street, but he pauses and looks behind him. _That's right... I don't even know anything about him. Maybe he won't get hurt, like how mom did... and like Axel..._

"What is it?" He calls back, piercings glinting in the sunlight.

"It's not that I forgive you," I start, walking out to stand on the sidewalk. He continues to look at me, and I put my hands into the pockets of my hoodie, a nervous gesture. "But I... ah, fuck."

"I get it," he says, smiling. It looks happy. "You're not mad."

"Not really, no..." A bad feeling creeps up my spine, and I instinctively look to the left along the road, where two cars are coming almost full-speed. One of them crosses the intersection as my smile fades, while its light is red, and hits the other car head on. _What...? Just like in my dream..._

"Fuck! Sora!" I shout, turning and just _running_. He didn't hear the crash, probably because of his ipod music - I noticed he'd put it full blast after trying to change the song by accident - and the car is skidding in his direction. I come up to him as he spots the car, his eyes widening just as I grab him by the waist and tackle him, sending us flying in the direction of the grass. We hit the grass just as the car skids by us mere inches from my legs, glass shards flying. Instinctively, I cover him as much as I can with my own body, feeling some glass fall on me, but he's spared from the big pieces.

_It's just like before..._

"Roxas?" Sora asks, shaking his head to clear it. "You're fucking insane! Don't you know that you could've gotten hit?"

"Don't you know that you could've died?" I snap back. _He'll get hurt if he sticks by me. Like mom and Axel... he'll die._

"Are you okay?" He asks me. I quickly get up off of him, putting some space between us as I get up.

"No!" I shout, my eyes closing. _I'll always be alone. _"Stay... stay away."

I run back across the street, ignoring the car as the driver get's out of it perfectly unharmed, running back inside and slamming the door shut. I lean my back against it, the glass on my back having falled as I ran, before my knees give out and I fall to the ground.

_To your grave I spoke  
>Holding a red red rose<br>Gust of freezing cold air  
>Whispers to me: You're gone.<em>

"Roxas!" I hear from behind the door, and I realize then that I'm crying; tears are falling, and without wanting to I hiccup, my eyes closing as I hide my head between my knees.

"Please, just go away!" I plead, shaking. _Why was it me...?_

"At least tell me why!" He demands.

"You'll get hurt!" I cry out, hands clutching my legs tightly. _Like everyone else..._

"Roxas!" He shouts, hand thumping on the door once. I don't relpy.

* * *

><p><em>Spent a lifetime of holding on<br>Just to let go  
>I guess I'll spend another lifetime<br>Searching for a new hope..._

I think I fell asleep, because I wake up to choking on my breath, a small habit of mine when I wake up. My eyes feel heavy from the tears and my face feels red. Something cold is pressed against my forehead, too. I sit up with a groan, putting my hand to the washcloth over my forehead.

"I hope you won't mind..." I look to my left, and Sora smiles gently at me. "I heard something fall over, so I got worried. When I opened the door, you had fallen asleep."

I remain silent, looking to the washcloth as I hold it to my hand. The couch suddenly feels to comfortable to me in the silence.

"People get hurt when they're around me," I say gently, almost silently. He looks at me. "I don't want others..." _I don't want another death on my conscience._

I cry out in pain as he hits me on the shoulder, looking at him.

"You fucking moron." He snaps lowly, taking me aback. He hasn't really been harsh to me. "I don't give a flying fuck in space about that. I'm worried about you, though. You know why it happens, and I won't leave until you tell me why."

"Then get used to it," I say, clipping the words. "I don't want to fucking tell anyone my deepest secret. You'd call me a fucking insane kid who needed help."

"I'm not leaving you alone until I get it out of you, then," he growls. "No matter what I have to resort to." He glares at me, and I'm taken aback by the resolve in his eyes.

_Gods, is he... _my cheeks flame as he keeps staring at me like that. _Fuck no..._

_To your grave I spoke  
>Holding a red red rose<br>Gust of freezing cold air  
>Whispering to me you're gone.<em>

"You had a reason why you didn't want to go back to school yesterday," he continues. "There was a shootout there yesterday. And today, you wanted me to leave rather badly. You know something, and I want to know what it is." He growls these last words lowly, leaning towards me like a cat prowling after a mouse. I instictively lean back a bit, my back hitting the backrest. "No matter what it takes."

_Spent a lifetime of holding on  
>Just to let go<br>I guess I'll spend another lifetime  
>Searching for a new hope...<br>A new hope..._

He continues to stare at me in that predetorial way, inching closer. I snap my eyes shut, turning my head away.

"I... I can't tell you!" I say desperately, more than anything wishing he'd back off. I can feel my heart beating erratically. "The last person I told thought I was a freak! I begged my father to relocate after I did!"

He pauses, breathing gently. I can feel his breath ghosting over my skin, raising goosebumps.

"You're the only person who's been persistant to be my friend in a long time..." I say gently, opening my eyes and looking to the beige pillow. _After Axel... _"And I can't afford to have your pain rest on my conscience like theirs! There's only so much more I can take... I'm scared to trust fate now... so please," I breathe, shaking. "Just leave..."

_A new hope..._

"I can't do that," he mutters, and I snap my head to look at him, which brings me _literally_ three inches from his face. Our noses almost touch.

"I can't afford to watch another person die, Sora!" I shout, tears threatening my eyes. "They died and it was slow, and all I could do was watch!"

"So fucking what?" He snaps back. "They died; okay! That doesn't mean that there won't be _one_ person who won't die on you!"

"They all have!" I cry out, my tears spilling over. His eyes flicker.

"I still have to try!" He growls, his hands having found my wrists in my confision and gripping them tightly. "I have to!"

"What does it matter?" I ask desperately. "I'm used to being alone - I've been alone all along! So I don't give a fuck anymore! I'll die alone; I've accepted that!"

"I'm not accepting it!"

_A new hope..._

I hiccup as my tears pour - another annoying habit of mine - and cause me to jerk in his grip.

"I don't want you to get hurt, Sora. I don't know how, but you're important! I don't want you to get hurt!"

"If I was destined to have died on you, I would've died smothered by that car!" He snaps, shocking me into silence. "But no! You saved me from it! If that doesn't mean that I can survive, then I have no fucking idea what is!"

"I can't risk it, Sora." I whisper, closing my eyes. My entire body shakes.

"I can," he growls.

And he kisses me.

_A new hope...~_

My next hiccup dies out as he does that, his lip piercing digging into my lower lip as he puts a lot of force behind it. My eyes snap open, but his are snapped shut, and his hands on my wrists stop me from retaliating.

But I find myself unable to retaliate. Instead, I find my eyes closing and return his kiss shyly, hesitantly. He softens the kiss in return.

_How can I be enjoying this? I'm not gay!_

_Fuck this._

He'd let go of my wrists as he did that, and I throw my arms around his neck, leaning into his touch and deepening the kiss. He smirks - typically Sora - and pulls back an inch.

"I thought you weren't gay," he says, grinning. I look at him.

"Shut the fuck up; I don't understand this as much as you do." I growl, making him chuckle. My cheeks feel very warm right now. "Just kiss me again."

This makes him laugh, but he complies.

* * *

><p><em>"The reason why people are always in pain around me..." Roxas starts gently, hands wringing the hem of his shirt, which is crumpled a bit now. "It's because I was..."<em>

* * *

><p>I'm a horrible person...<p>

It took me fucking _forever_ to write up this ONE chapter. As you can tell... it will be a multi-chapter fanfic, dedicated to one of my reviewers, Scarletnight13. I'm sorry for the long wait, but I hope it will be worth it!

I've also found out that if my fanfics don't have fantasy in them, they're harder to write ._. Blame the fantasy novelist thing...

But I will finish _Paper Moon_ and _Fall Into Your Sunlight_. Make no mistakes. Their storylines are at the end, so there's no worries!

The song in this chapter (as well as the song this fanfic is called after) is _A New Hope_ by _Broken Iris._ Amazing band, folks. If you like _Breaking Benjamin_ or those types of bands, you'll adore them! I was listening to the song nonstop while writing this fanfic. It's so gloriously beautiful and sad...

_Smiley: Here she goes, ranting about a song... typical!_

_Beat: It shows she's passionate about it!_

_Me: You understand! Yay! *Hugs Beat* See, Smiley? I'm sure you'd adore it too... it's your type of music. *Sticks tongue out*_

_Smiley: Go play with your hobo halves, you two!_

_Me: Oh, hey Beat. I told a friend of mine about your bottom half of hobo, and she laughed! Made a huge joke out of it and everything._

I'll see you guys soon!


	2. Broken Inside

If it wasn't for the quick reviews I'd gotten, this chapter wouldn't be done yet XD You guys are going to kill me at this rate D=! I'm giving myself a quota of 6,000 words a chapter =3 Which is why this giftfic will appear so short.

So as you can see by the end of this chapter, this giftfic will be relatively short for a reason (one, because I have a LOT of fanfics to finish, but Scarletnight13 has been VERY patient, so I want to finish this for her =3

REIVEWS~ _Thank you all for the quick responses! I love you all 3 (In the most homo way possible - kidding XD)_

_For StickeyriceZ: _Sorry for the cliffhanger! It's become a habit of mine to do =3 And hi there, new reviewer! =D It's a very short giftfic, so I'm not too sure how many chapters there will be yet, but I'm keeping it to below 10, I think... But I'm glad you like it! =D Thanks for the review!

_For Innocent Uke Or NOT: _Sorry for the cliffhanger D= Not sure if you've ever reviewed before... but hi there anyways! =D I'm glad you're enjoying it this much =3! And yeah, crybaby Roxas and tough guy (soft heart) Sora are so cute 3 And thanks for the review!

And thank you for everyone who favorited and alerted this story, it motivated me to stay up until four thirty in the morning just for you guys! =D I'm dead tired, so I'll just go hit the hay now and pass out for a LONG while =3

This chapter is named after the song that inspired Roxas' dark past, _Broken Inside_ by _Broken Iris_ (I'm going through a phase that their songs are EPIC) and it helps to listen to both _Broken Inside_ and _A New Hope_ during this chapter. It sets the mood =3

Plus not a lot (scratch that, enough) people like their music, which is really good C=

* * *

><p><strong> A New Hope<strong>

**2 **

**Broken Inside**

_**Sora**_

He remains quiet for a while, looking at the tv screen with his knees to his chest, his chin resting on them while his arms are wrapped around his legs. In other words, he's looking anywhere but at me.

"Some people are born with the best luck, right?" He asks silently. I look at him, but he doesn't look my way. I sigh, sitting back in the couch and trying to focus on something else. "Well, I have the worst luck."

"You keep pushing people away, Roxas," I start just as silently, tired of yelling at the ice blue-eyed blonde. "But aren't you afraid of being alone?"

"More than you know," he chuckles, causing me to look at him. A small and bitter smile graces his soft lips. "I was born underneath the unluckiest star of the year - October thirty-first, at exactly midnight. Not a second before, not a second after. I remember hearing from my father once that the moon looked red that night, as if it was soaked in blood. No stars shone to disperse the illusion - rather, they hid behind the black expanse of the sky.

"Things were terrible from the start, too. The nurse that took care of me cut herself against a perfectly round table corner, the gash longer than my fucking arm. My mother, instead of getting better, worsened, unable to keep food down for days and only capable of keeping liquids down, and even then only for a short amount of time. She didn't leave the hospital for days, even after I was allowed to leave.

"She got better eventually," he chuckles darkly, his eyes hard and cold. "For a while. Things were alright, and we lived like a fucking happy family, moving around sometimes because of my father's job with the military. When I reached the age of ten, though, nothing was fantastic anymore. My mother had a mysterious heart attack, and they rushed her to the hospital I was born in. They remembered her.

"I visited her everyday, like any son would. I was worried about her. Every day she got a little worse, thinning when she could no longer hold down her food. She got paler and paler, until she looked like a ghost. But her eyes shone with life - dying life, though. She'd always be nice to me, and tell me she was okay, that she was sure she'd leave in the morning. Eventually, she couldn't even talk to me anymore, being hooked up to a machine that breathed for her. She was hooked to so many wires that she was unrecognizable.

"My father, he had trouble seeing his fucking wife like that, and rarely came. He came on October thirty-first, and while all the other kids were out getting free candy from strangers, I was with my mother, holding her thin and cold hand. He took one look at her, turned to the doctor, and told him to cut off the life support. And my mother fucking _smiled!_

"I was mad at the world then. I barely spoke to my father, save for the minimal, and today I don't even see him because of it. I went through grades six to eight thinking hell to the world. And in the beginning of my ninth grade, some kid on a dare befriended me - I wasn't fucking aware that it was a dare. I would've punched him if I did.

"I was the freak at school. They mocked me for my bad luck, and only Axel - that was the name of the bastard - stuck by me. We stayed friends for the good deal of half the year, and I trusted him enough to tell him my secret." He snorts. "What a mistake that was."

I remain quiet, letting him gather his thoughts as he purses his lips.

"I told him everything that I'm telling you - about my mother and my luck. I also told him about a gift I have that I've known about for nearly all my life; that I can see things that will happen in the future, and sometimes these feelings come in the form of a doodle or drawing." He looks at me for the first time, a sort of masochistic glint in them. _He's doing this to punish himself_, I realize. "I already _knew_ my mother would get hospitalized months before it happened. I knew she wasn't going to make it. But who could I tell?

"And do you know what the fucker did?" He growls, looking back to the tv and glaring _volcanoes_ and _meteorites_ - not daggers, _volcanoes and meteorites_ - at it. "He laughed at me. Fucking called me crazy and spilled the truth. He began to walk away down the street, and got hit by a fucking sixteen-wheeler.

"I was pissed, but again, I'd _known_ he was going to die. I was so pissed that I didn't warn him or try to help him. He didn't matter to me. He was dead weight, and I decided that I didn't want _anything_ to do with anyone else. I told my father I wanted to move, and we did.

"We've jumped from state to state and country to country since then. He never asks why; he just does it." His entire frame shakes. "Are you fucking _happy_ Sora? I told you. Now you can stop torturing me and get the _fuck_ out of my house. Go find whatever friends you have and tell them the crazy truth - see if I fucking care."

"If you didn't save Axel when you knew he was going to die..." I start, and a growl comes from him a little, a low one, like a warning. "Why did you save me? Why didn't you let me die?"

"I'm fucking _tired_ of watching people die, Sora!" He snaps, making me flinch. "Do you fucking _know_ how painful it is?"

"I do," I whisper, making him turn his head to look at me, eyes narrowing.

"Not like me," he growls back. I glare at him.

"How would you fucking know? You're not the only fucking kid out there with a goddamn curse on you!"

"Elighten me, then." He says flatly. I sigh, tired of shouting at him.

"I watch people die every day, Roxas," I say coldly, staring at him with the same ice that is layered in my voice. "Every time I close my eyes for just a moment, I see someone die. That's my curse. When I sleep at night, all I see is people dying in my dreams. I saw my own mother and father dying seconds before it happened; I saw people I don't even know die. I've seen _millions_ of people die, in ways you would shrivel up at. I've seen it all - from rape to abuse to a child being stuffed in a fucking _stove_ and cooked by his own parents."

He snaps his mouth shut.

"That's why I think I'm the only person who can survive your own curse, Roxas. You might have the rottenest luck, but I have the best luck. People don't die around me, which is why I think I can survive." I narrow my eyes at him. "And you've captivated my interest, too. You're not getting rid of me that fucking easily."

He mutters incoherently under his breath, turning away from me.

"Maybe there's a cure, Roxy." I say gently, using the nickname. His shoulders loosen a little at my voice - or maybe at the name. No matter how much he says he hates the name, I don't think he does. "Maybe we can cure you."

His shoulders start shaking, and he hiccups. Putting two and two together, I sigh, scooting a little closer to him.

"So can we stop this useless fight, Roxy?" I ask softly, gently putting my hands on his shoulders, his back to me. "I'm tired of seeing you pissed off at me."

His shoulders loose their tension upon my touch, so I figure he's okay with it. Slowly I wrap my arms around his chest, putting the side of my head to his spine, right between his shoulderblades. His heart thumps loudly in my ear, and I can hear his erratic breathing as he tries to hide the fact he's crying.

"If you... if you fucking die on me," he starts shakily, his teary voice filling my ears. "I'll find your body and feed it to bloody sharks, and then feed the sharks to something else."

I chuckle nervously, smiling despite his threat.

"I just want to settle one thing," I say, neither of us really paying attention to the news playing on the tv anymore. The Anchor woman just blabs it all away to fall on deaf ears. Grinning I bring my lips up to his ear, and he shivers as my breath ghosts his skin. "You're mine."

"What-" I cut him off by biting the base of his neck where his right shoulder meets his neck, and he lets out a small hiss, shaking. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?"

"Marking my territory," I smirk against his skin. Despite it all, he laughs once. His hands come up and push my head away, glaring at me.

"That hurt, you fucker." He growls, his harsh tone lost with his smile.

"So then, why are you laughing?" I ask, grinning. He turns around so that he's sitting facing my way with a small chuckle coming from his throat, his cheeks flushed with... happiness, I think.

"Because you're a bastard," he laughs. I put a hand to my heart, faking an injury.

"Ow, that hurt," I pout, making him laugh more. It's a gentle sound, making him seem alive. He returns the favor by faking sympathy.

"I'm sorry!" He mock-gasps. "I didn't mean to offend you!"

"I'll forgive you this time," I grin. "If I get a kiss for it."

He sighs.

"Ruin the moment, why don't you?" He asks sarcastically.

"So is that why you're going to do it anyways?" I ask with a grin, an eyebrow raised as he's slowly minimizing the space between us. "And I consider it making the moment better."

"Whatever floats your boat, Sora," he chuckles, pressing lightly on my lips. I inwardly roll my eyes at his hesitation, pressing harder and making him squeak. "Your piercing hurts!" He whines, making me laugh.

"Deal with it," I mutter, and he grins, kissing me again. He grins against it, moving a bit so that he can put the piercing on my lip in his mouth, sucking slightly. My eyes widen a bit as he does that.

"What are you doing, Roxas?"

Roxas pulls away faster than I would have thought possible, hands on my shoulders as he pushes me back and turning his head to the left towards the entrance of the living room. I look as well, to see a deathly-pale man in a green army uniform with dark blue eyes. His hair is balding a little, and he looks about ready to bite it.

"Dad!" Roxas exclaims hesitantly, and he knows that his face is flushed red, his hair is a little messed up and his lips are kiss-swollen a little, a little redder than usual.

"You know what," his father starts tiredly, holding up a hand to stop his explanations. He seems, I don't know... dead. "I don't care. Do what you want." And he turns around, hunched a little as if he'll collapse in on himself, and trudges up the large staircase. Soon, a small slam of a door can be heard.

Roxas sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his icy-blue eyes. I look at him, before sighing and looking to the tv, where a commercial is playing.

"He doesn't care about me much anymore," he says gently, looking with disinterest to the tv. "Ever since mom died, he's basically been shattering the father-son relationship... I think I was doing the same. Fuck if I cared."

"You regret it," I whisper, and he chuckles.

"More than you'll know," he says lightly. He hums a moment, lost in thought. "You know, you remind me of a boy I knew once when I was in grade... two, I think. He's another one of the only people who was stubborn enough to be friends with me, even if I was odd. He's the only one who didn't die."

"What was he like?" I ask, looking at him. He scratches his head a moment.

"Bubbly... he laughed a lot and he always smiled crookedly as if in on a secret. He wasn't afraid to let people know what he thought... he was spontaneous like that." His smile fades. "But I moved away after the school year, so I never saw him again."

"What'd he look like?" I ask, and he raises an eyebrow.

"Short brown hair that he kept saying he'd let grow out, but his mother never let him, and Ocean-blue eyes. His skin was fairly brown; because he was born in the tropics, he said. He was my best friend." He chuckles lightly. "We slept over at each other's houses so often that we lost count, and we knew just about everything about one another."

"And once, you climbed a tree so high that my father had to go get you... right?" I ask. He blinks at me.

"Right... Sora!" He shouts in joy, tackling me into a hug. "I should've known by your name, but I'd forgotten you!" (A.N.: Oh blarg my stomach is trolling me O.o I guess it doesn't like the supper I made it TAT (Stomach: LOLNOPE)) "I'm so sorry!"

I laugh, looking out the window as the breath is knocked out of me by his weight.

"It's okay..." I gasp out, laughing. "But you're choking me."

"Fuck, sorry!" He says, looking happy. He gets off of me, bouncing slightly. "What the hell happened to change you like that?"

"This and that," I smirk, not giving him any details. He sighs, his palm smacking over his eyes in a facepalm.

"You are a horrible person," he mutters, but he looks more relaxed around me now. He's laughing, and it's like if it relaxes him, years of pain rolling off his shoulders in laughter, his face lighting up. I find myself laughing too, joining in it as I find it contageous. He looks at me. "Are you still going to act like a jackass to me at school?"

"Maybe~" I sing, grinning and leaning against my hand. "Just to irk you."

He sighs, looking around to his right. His eyes widen.

"Didn't you want to go to school, Sora?" He asks, looking back at me. I shrug.

"Aren't you sick?" I reply. He shrugs in response.

"I was just using it as an excuse... though I _am_ sick, I was exagerating it a little." He laughs lightly. "We can arrive there for the afternoon classes."

"Sure thing," I stand up, stretching. "Come on, Roxy."

"Don't call me that," he says, glaring at me, but his smile makes the glare useless.

* * *

><p>"You might want to hide your neck, Roxy~" I sing, making him squeak. He shoots a glare at me, and I raise an eyebrow at him.<p>

"At least promise me you'll pay attention in class," he sighs, pulling the collar of his neck up and muttering _stupid Sora biting my neck like a damn vampire..._

"Here, pass me your cell phone, Roxy," I hold out my hand, and he gives me an odd look before complying, pressing the red rectangle into my hand. I flip open the cover, and go to his contacts.

After putting mine in, I hand it back, smiling at him. He frowns, eyes narrowing as he looks through it, squeaking when he finds it.

"Sora!" He protests, face taking on an attractive shade of pink as he frantically clicks on it, changing the name. I pout over his shoulder.

"I liked it," I mutter, and he sighs, flipping it back shut.

"Be that as it may," he starts, and I swear that if he could, there'd be a blood vessel popping out a bit of his forehead. He stuffs his cell into his back pocket. "If anyone were to steal my cell, I'm sure they'd wonder who the hell is _The one who owns you_."

I burst into a fit of laughter when he says it out loud, mere moments away from the school as I double over laughing. He sighs, waiting for me to regain my composure, but he's smiling as well. I fish my own cell from my pocket and give it to him.

"Add yours," I tell him, standing back up. He does so as we walk, returning it to me at the steps to the school.

"Just as long as you don't text me in the middle of class," he says sternly, flashing me a smile as he gestures for me to walk in first.

"So it's okay at the beginning or the end?" I ask, earning a sigh and another facepalm. He shakes his head in defeat, before pausing by his locker and unlocking it in one swift movement. He looks at me with an eyebrow raised, taking out a binder and a pencil case and placing it on the ground before he crouches on his toes to dig through a small pile of papers at the bottom.

"Should I expect the asshole attitude to return?" He asks casually, pulling out a sheet of paper with a small little _Aha!_ leaving his lips.

"Do you want it to?" I ask, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow. He looks at me as he stands, items in his arms as he closes the locker door and locking it again.

He shrugs, walking down the hallway. I follow after him, smiling to myself.

"It depends," he laughs gently, pausing by the door to our Advanced Science class to let the other students in. He looks over his shoulder at me. "Yes and no."

I laugh, gesturing for him to go in.

* * *

><p>Gym class. Probably a good bane of my existance; I hate most things that force you to sweat for an hour during a hot day.<p>

Turns out I have just about every class with Roxas, except for the free studies one. I'm in music and he's in art.

"I hate gym," he groans, bashing his head on the brick wall outside the school as we're given a five minute break. We'd been running for a good fifteen minutes to "warm up." Yeah, my fucking ass.

Most guys right now have their shirts off by now, and the girls have theirs rolled up to underneath their chests, giving them at least some air on their stomachs and lower backs. I'd followed their example and taken mine off _before_ we even began to run, knowing that it'd be hell in this weather. Roxas collapses in the shade, peeling off his white gym shirt and putting it over mine. He glances at me, smiling weakly.

"I never liked the heat," he mumbles, laughing. "Makes me a bit hysteric."

"I completely agree with you there, Roxy." I sigh, chuckling in agreement. The coach blows the whistle, making the two of us groan as we push outselves off the ground, more groans echoing around us from the other students.

"Come on, you bunch of babies!" Cid, the coach, shouts. "It's not that hot out!"

"I think he's gotten so old that his temperature gauge has run out," Roxas mumbles, making me snicker.

"Something funny, Hikari?" He asks me. I raise an eyebrow, looking at him.

"No, not at all," I smirk, making him narrow his eyes.

"Alright then, drop down and give me fifty." He orders. I glare at Roxas.

"This is all your fault," I say, flicking him on the forehead. He sticks out his tongue at me, making me raise my eyebrows as I get onto the ground and begin.

"Strife, give me fifty as well!" I laugh, loosing my balance as I do - making me fall in the process - when I see Roxas' face: his mouth drops in shock and he turns a glare at me.

"See what you did?" He asks in disbelief, gesturing to Cid. Grumbling all the way, he drops down as well and does as he was asked, the other students snickering. Cid breaks their happy mood though, when he orders them to grab a soccer ball, grab a partner, and kick the ball at each other. (A.N.: 3 I love soccer! *Sighs* Last time I played though, I got kicked in the eye by a pair of cleats.) Roxas and I laugh at the bitter irony.

When we're done, we sit on the grass, huffing and practically gasping for breath. I close my eyes as I laugh -

_And the insistant flat beeping of a heart monitor reaches my ears, panic resounding around as the nurses rush by, wheeling another man on a stretcher and going to the one dying on his hospital bed and -_

"Sora!" Roxas calls, snapping his fingers in front of me. I blink at him.

"Sorry... I was..." I mumble, unable to finish as I shake my head to clear it. He smiles, nodding in understanding.

"Hey, I have an idea!" He exclaims, leaning forward slightly. "Why don't you come sleep over at my house? It's Friday, anyways... just like before?" He looks at me with a pleading puppy-eyes look, making me laugh.

"Alright," I say, smiling and getting up at Cid's insistant blather. I gesture for him to stand as well. "It'll be just like before." He beams up at me at that.

* * *

><p>After that train wreck - and lingering in the changing room after everyone'd gone to rape his mouth a little (A.N.: XD!) - or enough to make him shiver and moan - we make our way out with his face flushed a lobster red and with a big grin on my lips. I put my hand over his head and ruffle his hair, grinning at him.<p>

"Don't be mad!" I say, making him glare at me. His face flushes further with his blush creeping down his neck and he turns away.

"Did you hear what you made me do, or what?" He mutters, trying to keep quiet about it. I hum a moment as we turn down the sidewalk, my finger to my chin.

"Moan like a-"

"_Yes._" He hisses. "That."

I grin more widely, like a cat stalking a mouse. He's not looking, but I can tell he knows I'm grinning because he tenses slightly.

"I'm teasing you, Roxas." I smirk, removing my hand and making him sigh. He looks at me, his blush fading but still prominent. He holds his hand over the junction between his right shoulder and neck. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he laughs with a smile, removing his hand as we round the corner to his house. He fishes a key from underneath a clay pot, sticking it into the lock and unlocking it before returning the key. I raise an eyebrow, and he turns a quick glare on me before entering and gesturing me inside. "If you ever sneak in using that key, I'll castrate you with a wooden spoon."

"Ow?" I mutter, the word coming out like a question. He smiles innocently, before walking to a small table near the door that has a piece of paper on it. I look over his shoulder at it.

_I'm gone oversea's for a week or two, Roxas. There's an idiot in Irak that doesn't know what he's doing.  
>See you soon,<br>Dad._

"Short and sweet much?" He mutters, crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash nearby. He looks over his shoulder at me, pouting. "Do you want anything for diner - _other_ than my mouth?" He adds the last part as I open my mouth to speak. I close it again, smirking.

"I could write you a list," I tell him. He sighs, facepalming again before walking towards the right, pushing a cheery white door open into the kitchen.

"There's leftovers, but I doubt you'll want those... dad's a lousy cook." He snickers at his own words, opening the fridge. "Probably ate all my god damn sushi rice again... or not."

"Good news," he grins, popping his head from the fridge to look at me. "I can make us sushi... I remember you liking it when we were seven."

"Sounds great!" I smile, standing behind him as he bends back down to grab the supplies. I grin, sneaking my hand up the back of his shirt and causing something to clatter as he drops a few things. "Getting clumsy now, are we?"

"Sora!" He complains, slapping my hand away and crouching to gather the items again. He shoots me a glare as he stands back up, walking to the counter and kicking the fridge door closed. "You bastard." He mutters, setting up his little workstation before he begins to cut the vegetables.

"It's not like there's anyone to catch us," I reply, wrapping my arms around his waist and standing behind him, his back flush to my chest. He narrowly misses cutting his finger as I do so, faltering. "So you shouldn't mind."

He sighs, continuing his cutting.

"As long as you don't - Sora!" Complaining on how my hand is creeping up his shirt a little. "I'm a little busy here, and I'd like to keep _all_ my fingers, thank you."

"I'll wait, then," I chuckle in his ear, chin resting on his shoulder and raising goosebumps. "But you should expect it~"

He ignores me, rolling the sushi. I pout.

"Can you let go so I can serve us?" He asks, looking at me and smiling. I comply, holding my hands behind my back. He laughs to himself, stretching above his head to grab two black and red glass rectangular trays, like in those legit sushi shops. I watch as he piles them up, walking to the fridge and returning with some wasabi, ginger slices, soya sauce and the peanut sauce. (A.N.: Oh gods I'm salivating just thinking of it TA T Sushi~~~ 3 Man's one true accomplishment!) I raise my eyebrows.

"Wow, do you make these often?" I ask, grinning. He nods, grabbing two pairs of chopsticks and giving me a pair.

"Whenever dad doesn't eat all the sticky rice, yes." He tells me, already munching on one as he sits down at the table. I sit beside him, eagerly digging in. "Mom used to make some a lot... she taught me how."

"I remember," I say around a mouthful, laughing. "Sometime's she'd pick you up to bring you to lunch at a restaurant, and you'd ask her to bring me."

"We came as a pair back then, didn't we?" He chuckles, looking at one of his pieces between his chopsticks before popping it into his mouth. I nod, grinning.

We remain in silence the rest of the time we eat, until I lean back in my chair, stretching my hands over my head, full.

"Thanks, Roxy. That was really good," I tell him, smiling. He smiles in return, pushing the plate back and stretching.

"Now I really want a shower." He mutters. "No, you're not coming with me."

"You're no fun at all," I pout, sighing and blowing a strand of hair from my face. He chuckles.

"How about you go in first, then?" He suggest. "I'll find you some clothes you can borrow."

"How forward of you," I mock-gasp, making him facepalm again. "I've only been with you two days and you already want me in your clothes?" (A.N.: OH LOL! XD)

"Asshole," he grumbles. "We forgot to stop by your house to get you some clothes, remember? I'll lend you some of mine until morning."

"And what if I don't want to leave," I tease, following him up the stairs. He sighs. "Then what?"

"Where did the innocent seven year old go?" He asks skeptically. "You can stay the weekend though, if you want. I'll stick your clothes in the wash so that way you can re-wear them tomorrow."

He pushes open a door, which leads into a spacious room with - surprisingly - a double bed. There are two adjoining doors - one leads into a bathroom and one into a closet. He opens the latter one first, rummaging for something.

"I had a shirt that was too long for me here somewhere..." he mutters, looking through the shirts hanging on coat hangers. "Here we go. This should do for sleeping, right?" He asks, showing it to me. I nod. "Now for undershorts, I guess."

I laugh at his expression, making him frown at me before crouching, opening a drawer. He puts a garnment underneath the shirt and stands back up, closing the drawer with his foot before turning towards me. He holds them out.

"Here," he says, smiling. "I'm sorry it's nothing too spectacular..."

"It's fine," I laugh, taking them. He leads me into the bathroom and rummages for a towel and a washcloth, handing me both.

"I'm pretty sure you'll be fine, but if there's anything, call. I'll be in my room." He smiles gently again, before closing the door behind him.

* * *

><p>I come back out drying my hair, to find him reading a book while sitting on his bed. He looks up, smiling.<p>

"Welcome back," he closes his eyes as he smiles, seemingly shy for some reason. I raise my eyebrow in a question, and he blinks at me, closing his book without bothering to put a bookmark.

"Why do you seem shy?" I ask, and he looks at me in confusion.

"Sorry," he laughs. "I haven't really had someone over in ages... I guess it makes me a little nervous." I walk up and sit beside him, legs over the edge with the towel around my shoulders. He stares at me.

"I'm the last person you need to be shy with, Roxy," he nods, looking down.

"Sora... can you stop calling me that please? Axel used to call me that..." he mutters, scratching the back of his head before looking at me apologetically.

"How about Rox?" I ask. He blinks.

"I guess... if it's you... it doesn't matter what you call me," he blushes a cute pink, smiling. "It's just... it makes me remember him a bit..."

I grin, making him frown while I lean in a bit, eyebrows shot up.

"Why Roxas, are you by any chance showing me your... vulnerability?" I ask, grinning a little evilly. He frowns a little more. "It's cute~"

"Fuck you," he mutters, cheeks flaming. Teasing, I reply with a grin.

"Yes, please."

And gods his face is so proceless I laugh. His face bursts into flames and he pushes my shoulders to give him some personal space, before getting up and heading towards the bathroom.

"Pervert," he mutters, but he's laughing. He closes the door beind him, cutting off his laugh.

* * *

><p>He comes back out a few minutes later, throwing the towel in my face before tackling me while I try to remove it. He smiles sweetly at me, making me raise an eyebrow.<p>

"Can I... help you?" I ask, and he grins.

"Not really," he laughs. "But I wanted some form of revenge."

"I hope your are very comfortable, then." I chuckle. He tilts his head to the side. "Just don't move too much, or I'll rape you."

He gasps in mock-horror.

"Something tells me you wouldn't care..." he avoids my gaze, acting innocent.

"You wouldn't do that to me, right?" He asks, turing puppy eyes on me. I sigh, looking at him skeptically.

"Will you do that _every time_ you want something?" I ask. He nods frantically, making him bounce slightly and causing me to wince. "To be honest, I probably would. But let me tell you a little secret, Roxy," I grab his chin and bring his ear to my lips. "_It's not rape if you enjoy it._" He jerks his head back, and I push him off of me - as nice as it is, its not recommended.

"How about we go to sleep now?" He asks, smiling. I raise an eyebrow, my hand resting on his stomach as I'm lying on my stomach beside him - he's on his back.

"You sure?" I ask in return, making my index and middle finger walk on his chest. He nods. "You are a _terrible_ liar."

"At least I'm not a pervert," he retorts, making me snort.

"So then, _that's_ just a coincidence?" I ask, an eyebrow rising in disbelief as I pause my fingers at the hem of his pajama pants. He nods.

"Again, you can't lie to save your life," I chuckle, grinning. His face heats up. "Relax, I'm just teasing, Roxy. Let's get you to bed now, like a good boy."

"Maybe I don't want to be a good boy," he mutters at me, and my eyebrows shoot up.

"How could you say such a thing?" I ask in mock-horror. "Those thoughts are not good, you know."

"Fuck you," he growls. I tilt my head to the side, fingers sliding on the skin barely visible between the hem of his shirt and pants.

"That holds so many different meanings~" I sing, teasing. He sighs, rolling his eyes and mouthing _Why me_ to the sky. "Which one are you implying?"

He growls, sitting up and pushing me onto my back, sitting on my stomach.

"I don't give a fuck I've only known you two days," he growls, lips near my ear as I grin.

"Technically, you've known me for a whole school year before this," I supply. He sighs impatiently.

"Fuck if I care," he mutters, claiming my lips and immediately diving into my mouth with his tongue. I raise an eyebrow.

_Yeah, you wish, Roxy~_ I think, grabbing his arms and turning our positions around. He squeaks, and I grin at him, still not having broken the kiss. I push into his mouth, and he shudders at the coolness of the metal piercing on my tongue.

"Remember this~?" I sing as we part for breath. He frowns. "And no, I'm not going to let you do as you please just because you started it."

"Asshole." He mutters, and I grin.

"Is that a challenge?" I ask. "If so, I accept your challenge." I put my lips to his ear, smiling like a predator with his prey in his claws. "_I'll make you scream._"

* * *

><p><em>"Maybe the cure lies within what we..." Hesitating lips, soft and smooth with the bite of metal on one side. "Maybe... just maybe, the way to cure you lies with..."<em>

* * *

><p>*Hums to <em>Where Butterflies Never Die<em>* 3 _Broken Iris_ Ftw all the way.

_Smiley: Again with the fangirlism..._

_Me: Blame my friend! We've been Otaku-ing all afternoon! Plus I kind of spammed onee-chan's chat with the lyrics to the song... twice. Don't knock it 'till you try it, my friend._

_Beat: Did you get my package?_

_Smiley: What package?_

_Beat: I sent you my bottom half of hobo~_

_Giggles: But I sent her Walter!_

_Me: And I sent her my damn 50 inches. Eat it, betch! C= (Gods if I say that to her for real she'll hit me XD I can't wait to see them again TA T)_

Until next time =3!


	3. Where Butterflies Never Die

_Almost there... 5,415 words... *Crosses fingers* PLEASE let the luck of the novelists be with me! D=_

_FUCK YEAH 6,200+ words!_

Oh my lawds I love you guys! You guys give me such amazing reviews and it makes my day, litterally! I wake up from my sleep (after going 30+ hours without and almost falling asleep on my keyboard* To messages on my hotmail from this! I squealed!

Reviews! (Because reviewers are awesome like that)

_For Shino159_: I'm sorry it scared you! D= It wasn't meant to be scary, in all honesty... And hi, new reviewer! And yes, Sora is a not-so-much-in-the-closet pervert. If you'd ask him, he wouldn't be afraid to tell you.

_For Innocent Uke Or NOT:_ To answer your question, here it is simply put: By watching other people die whenever he closes his eyes (A.K.A. giving up his innocence for suffering), he is rewarded with luck. Sort of an equivalent exchange. And yes, I figure that Scarletnight13 has been very patient for this fanfic, so I want to make sure that they won't be dissapointed! =D

_For Scarletnight13:_ I seriously cheered when I saw that you reviewed. I was really happy that you read it (because I was wondering if it would be a nice giftfic) and I'm sorry it almost made you cry! D= And yeah, _Paper Moon_ seems to be a really popular one for me =3 I'm struggling to come up with the final chapter, but I'm going to make it happen! Just you wait! _Fall Into Your Sunlight_, I'm also going to work on it. You might not have to wait long, who knows? ;3

_For OmniaVanitas: _XD Hi new reviewer! (Not sure if you've ever reviewed before but I think you have) And thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

_For KatrinaEagle:_ Hi new reviewer! =D I am very glad that you enjoy it =3

_Thanks to everyone who has favorited and alerted so far! You people make my day and force me to move my butt to make new chapters XD What would I do without you guys? =O_

_Enjoy A New Hope~_

* * *

><p><strong>A New Hope<strong>

**3**

**Where Butterflies Never Die**

_Sora_

_"The boy's crazy!" How many times have I heard that? Gods, I can't even remember the actual number, except for the fact that it's pretty damn high._

_"I'm not lying!" Hands balled into fists in front of my chest, hiccuping as I cry. Unwilling to close my eyes. "Can't you see them dying?"_

_Roxas says he lost all hope for the world at ten? Well, that's another thing I guess we have in common. She's crying, mom's crying, head hidden in her hands, not even looking at me. She's ashamed, like my father and my older brother. They don't stop them as the child psychiatrist grabs me by the shoulders in an attempt to calm me down, but I flail my arms as I cry out._

_"None of you understand!" I cry, and I accidentaly hit the woman in her face, making her glasses fly off her nose and clatter to the floor. "They're all dying!"_

_"Sedate him!" A man shouts, hiding his own child to try and keep his child from seeing me, this _demon_, as he calls me. His child frantically pushes from the protective hold to stare at me, mocking me. _

_"He's going to die!" I cry out. Around the age of ten... that's when the 'gift' kicked in. I didn't know any better._

_Admitting me into a mental hospital for children for so long... something around four years. At first, nothing changed, but I realized that if I didn't speak about what I saw, they didn't treat me like a mentally-retarded kid. So I kept it to myself, all this time._

_And now it spills out of my lips so easily underneath this dark moon._

* * *

><p><em>Roxas<em>

I wake up in the middle of the night, shivering and unable to find any blankets to stop the shivers. I blink tiredly, rubbing my eyes as I sit up and lean against one hand, trying to rid my eyes of the sleep with the other. A small and chilly breeze comes in through the open balcony window, catching my curiosity as I see Sora's silhouette reflected in the moonlight. I stand up, shivering as the air hits my bare arms and chest, quickly finding my shirt and tugging it back on before taking a blanket and silently padding over beside him. He tilts his head back to look at the moon, his dark brown spikes catching the moonlight and turning his hair a near blonde. His eyes are closed and it almost makes him look... angelic.

"It's cold out," I say gently, stepping behind him and wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. He smiles gently towards the moon, turning his gaze onto me. "We don't need you catching a cold."

"Thank you," he replies, looking out towards the town below. I stand beside him, leaning my arms on the railing and look in the same direction.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask gently, a firefly shining near his hand. He looks to it, smiling, but his smile looks forced, sad, even. The firefly flies onto his hand on the railing, shining and remaining immoble.

"I couldn't sleep anymore," he says, watching as the little shining insect flies off.

"Were you seeing...?" I let the question hang, unable to finish it. He shakes his head.

"Surprisingly, no. I didn't see a single one all night," his smile fades, and he looks to the moon on its way to leaving the sun its time to shine. "But I did dream of something I really do wish I'd forget."

I remain quiet, not watching him because I know it might make him nervous. He smiles, maybe because he's grateful of the action, or for some unknown reason.

"When I was little, things were a little different for me than they were for you; my own little _gift_ didn't start showing up until I was ten. I was seeing people dying, so naturally, I panicked. No one believed me..." he laughs quietly to himself, and I feel a small stab of guilt in my chest. _What if I'm the reason he has this curse?_ "Not even my mother and father. My brother went out of his way to make sure that _no one_ thought we were related. He told his friends that I was _adopted_, and I think that it was so convincing that my parents began to believe it too. They still treated me like their son, but it's like if they were always one tragedy away from severing all ties with me and giving me up for adoption.

"They kept warning me not to make a scene at school, afraid that I would make _them_ look bad. But I'd been miserable that day, and I'd seen a kid in my grade dying by his parents... abusive parents. He'd gotten scared when I'd said such a thing. Apparently, he didn't want to go home that night.

"Anyways, the school had called for my parents to come get me, and called the nurse to sedate me. I'd fought back really hard, and I remember it took my mother, my father, the gym teacher and the janitor to hold me down before she could sedate me.

"I woke up somewhere else, of course. I paniced, but not because of the deaths this time. I was bound around my wrists and I was in a white room. There was a man there with a guard, sitting on a chair across from me.

"I honestly can't remember all the questions they asked me, but they looked at me like if I was _insane_. Professionals, my _ass_. _"Are you sure that you're not just hallucinating?" "Did you take anything that looked illegal, like a pill or something?"_ They thought I was fucking _high!_ At _ten!_" He growls, hands holding the railing tightly, so tightly that his knuckles are white. I put my hands over his, trying to calm him down, but I know how he feels. As he tells me, he's reliving the memories, the white-hot memories that won't ever go away or take back the pain they cause. "Eventually, I caught on and stopped telling them about the _hallucinations_, realizing that if they thought I was _sane_, they'd let me go home. I was thirteen by then, wishing hell on the people who looked at me with pitiful eyes.

"And one day, while I was trying to distract myself by listening to the music they'd allowed me to have, a man came in and told me that my parents were coming to pick me up. I'd closed my eyes in happiness at that..."

"And you saw them crash... didn't you?" I whisper, and his fingers tighten on the railing.

"I begged the man to call them and to tell them to turn around, forgetting the idea of not telling them that I could still see the deaths, and after much debate on my part, he called my house after I told him they were going to crash. They weren't home... my parents and my brother." He smiles bitterly. "Once I heard that, I wouldn't talk to the man anymore, and I shut him out from my world as I ignored him. He left.

"It was dusk when he came back, and by then I'd really torn myself away from many things in the world. I thought hell to the world... like you." Another bitter smile, this time from me. "He was pale-faced, and he told me that the Hospital had called, to tell us that my parents had died. I remember giving him the coldest gaze I'd ever done, looking at him from the very corner of my eyes. He flinched at my movement, and casually, like if we weren't talking to him about my dead family, I said _"What'd you expect?"_ with a voice that chilled him, I could see it in his eyes.

"He smiled nervously, and told me they were sending me to a relative - my entire family had been kept in the dark about my _insanity_... so they were pretty nice to me. I'd lived with them until my sixteenth birthday, when I left and rented my own little apartment. I've lived there for two years now."

"But how do you pay the rent, then?" I ask, looking at him for the first time, seeing him now and realizing the pain that always lurks in the back of his eyes. His eyes flicker to me, and I guess he must now see the same in mine. Like a mirror image with a different reflection.

"I live off of the rather immense inheritance my parents left me, having obtained my brothers' share as well considering he's dead... so I won't really have to work until my fourties, and I'm not stupid enough to spend it that much even then, so by the time I _really_ have to work, I'll be sixty, mostly because my grandparents are just about ready to cought it up, too." He smiles grimly. "But yeah... I couldn't sleep because of that. Stupid reason, huh?"

"No, it's not," I say stubbornly, pursing my lips and hugging his arm as the moon dips below the horizon. A small chilly breeze follows after it, as if longing for its return. It's perfectly right." I can hear him smile as he watches the sky too. I don't need to look at him to be able to know.

* * *

><p>"Here, I want you to listen to this," Sora says, strangely calm for his character. He steps up behind me, putting his arms underneath mine and bringing his hands up to my ears, where he puts his earbuds into my ears. I blink up in confusion at him, but he just smiles gently, resting his chin on my shoulder and waiting, looking at me. A small, soft little melody fills my ears.<p>

_Float on to the painted sky where we will be unified as I slip inside  
>Where butterflies... never die. <em>

"Why?" I ask, enjoying the song nonetheless. He just smiles, holding me closer. I put my hands over his, which are still poised at my ears, and I find myself smiling as well, looking outside the window I'm standing by.

"I don't know," he says, laughing gently. I watch a bird land by the windowsill, look through the glass at us, and fly away. "I guess because it reminds me of you."

"And I don't know why..." he continues, still whispering as if we're in a church. "But whenever I close my eyes while touching you, I can't see anything except for the darkness behind my eyelids. No death at all. It's comforting." I smile more at that.

_I might have been the one to give him this curse,_ I think, looking at him to find him keeping his eyes closed, relishing in the sight of no death.

_Multiply humanity, harmonize insanity, sharing light of remedy, holding  
>Tides of clarity, shattered glass in flower beds,<br>Humanize inhumane ends. _

"Sora," I start gently, looking back outside. I feel his gaze on me, calm and gentle... like he's been all day. "Now that you bring up the subject, I want to tell you what I have thought up." He hums at me to continue. "I think that it's possible that I may have given you this curse."

"I figured as much," he says, laughing gently. I look at him, but the bastard's eyes are closed again. "I started having dreams the year after you left, but they weren't really as bad as some of the visions I'd gotten. My mind was able to cast them off as nightmares because I was asleep. But the day they began to appear every time I closed my eyes, I got scared because I knew I was awake... and the nightmares suddenly made a lot of sense to me, why I'd been having them so frequently. I didn't tell anyone about the deaths I saw, not until I saw the little boy die behind my eyelids." He smiles bitterly. "Turns out my warning saved his life for a few hours; he went home, and they found him dead in his room, his parents nearby in hysteria, babbling madness and spilling the truth in their vulnerability. His parents killed him. Just like I said they would. But no one cared about me anymore, so they just did themselves a favor and forgot about me. Filthy bastards."

_It's all the same for the dreamers, it's all the same  
>For us... <em>

"People are very selfish," I tell him, and he hums in agreement. "For wanting things to be perfect, when nothing is."

"Not everyone is selfish," he says with a smile, looking at me momentarily before closing his eyes again, enjoying the blackness too much, like an angel who finds that he belongs in darkness rather than in light. "You're not."

"I am," I say, smiling and laughing a little. "I want you with me, even though I know I shouldn't. I'm being selfish, but I can't help it, and I enjoy it."

He joins in my laugh.

_Float on to the painted sky where dreams will be unified as I slip inside  
>Where butterflies... <em>

"That shows me you care, Rox. It's not being selfish; you know the danger I'm putting myself in, you're worried about me, but you don't want me to go," he smiles. "It's called love."

I choke on my breath, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Don't give me that," he says, smirking, his usual demeanor showing through a little.

"But I've only known _this_ you for three days!" I protest, my chest feeling like lead. _It's the ones I love that die! _

He rolls his eyes, sighing.

"So? If we'd known each other all our lives and never had been torn apart, would that have lead you to believe that you'd harbored the feelings over time?" I nod. "Bullshit. I don't give a damn." I blink at him, not confused yet but not far from it. "I think that the reason because we _love_ each other - don't give me that look - is because when we were eight, the memories we made remained in our hearts even if we forgot them. We never truly forgot each other. _That_ is where your feelings grew, Rox. Because your heart never forgot me."

_Utilize surrendering, when silence falls, to you it sings, sterilize  
>Your mentality, compromise your reality<br>Restful mind and peaceful eyes  
>When sound is gone, then you will find <em>

"You're sappy," I mutter, turning my head away and keeping my gaze from falling on him again. He chuckles lightly at my actions. "I have trouble believing in that either way, Sora."

"Well then, explain to me why you don't mind it that I hold you like this so much, like _lovers_ would," he says, his teasing tone laid onto his words. Despite myself, I smile. "Or how you wouldn't mind kissing me all day, like you told me yesterday?"

"I can answer the last one easily," I say. "Teenage hormones." He snorts, making me smile wider. "As for the other one, I find it comforting when someone holds me like this."

"Keep telling yourself that," he sighs, but I know he won't give up until I admit it. "Wait, so does that mean you would let _anyone_ hold you like this just because its comforting?"

I laugh at the tone of his voice as he mock-gasps.

"No, I wouldn't let just _anyone_ do it," I say with a smile, looking outside again. "Silly. I'd only ever allow you to do it."

_It's all the same for the dreamers... it's all the same... for us  
>Float onto the painted sky where dreams will be unified as I slip inside<br>Where butterflies... never die..._

"So what did you think?" He asks, dropping the ear buds so they hit my chest lightly, hanging there.

"It's a nice song," I reply, and he beams.

"It's all I really was allowed to listen to in the mental institute," he says. "It followed me out."

I look at him, and he offers me a smile. Returning his smile, I disentangle myself from his arms, and he stares at me in confusion.

"Come on, Sora. I know its your birthday today, and I'm taking you somewhere. I want to get you something." He sighs, smiling defeat as he scratches the back of his head.

"You remembered," he laughs. "I was hoping you wouldn't." I roll my eyes, grabbing his wrist.

* * *

><p>"There's two places I want to go today," I tell him, holding up two fingers. We walk down the sidewalk of the shopping district, families and groups of teenagers walking around. Sora glances around, wearing his clothes that we'd picked up at his apartment on the way over, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.<p>

"Where are those?" He asks, looking sideways at me. I raise an eyebrow at him, a little surprised that his asshole attitude doesn't pop up in public. "Don't give me that; it's your own damn fault for affecting me."

"Ah. There it is," I sigh, index finger in the air as I find the minute sound of his usual attitude. "One of them is right here." I say, pulling open a door between two glass windows showcasing the creatures up for sale inside.

"A pet shop?" He asks in confusion, making me snicker at his tone of voice.

"There's a woman here who specializes in the type of animal I'm looking for," I tell him, confusing him further. I weave through the bodies of other people, Sora following me given the fact he's not given a choice. I get to the back, where a cage with a glorious feline is resting, looking at the people whom it knows will never be able to get it out of its cage, even if it still tries. I get her attention when I find her, a woman in a safari hat and wearing what you'd expect a woman who travels to Africa a lot would wear.

"Can I help you?" She asks, turning around and looking at me. Sora looks to the feline, smiling... I reckon to remember that he's allergic to cat fur.

"You might be able to. I want to buy this furry little bastard in the cage," I tell her, pointing my thumb at the cat. She beams.

"You mean Ramses?" She asks, calling the cat by the name she's given him. "He doesn't come cheap."

"I can afford it," I tell her. "Can you also get me anything you know I'll need to take care of him?" She nods, practically skipping away after handing me the key to his cage and telling me to let the poor guy out.

I smile to Sora, unlocking the cage, the familiar smell of the pet shop invading my nose, reminding me of the short amount of time I worked in one last summer.

"Say hello to Ramses, Sora," I say with a smile, taking the cat out and making him meow at me in slight confusion. His golden eyes stare at me, but I hold him out to Sora gently. "Your new cat."

"But I'm allergic to cat fur," he frowns, and I laugh, holding him out.

"He has pelt, not fur. This guy's a cross between a miniature leopard and a house cat." His eyes widen, and he cautiously takes Ramses in his arms, eyes shining when he doesn't sneeze. (A.N.: A leopard cat... 3 Google it, guys. You won't regret seeing the beauty of them. Pelt! So soft, and perfect for people who are allergic to cat fur! I saw one once, I fell in love with it on the spot, and he's a walking meowing wallet. You'll see why.)

Sora laughs when the younger children nearby who were looking at the cat in fascination look at him, envy in their eyes. He crouches, the cat remaining still in Sora's arms, calm and quiet.

"You guys can pet him; I'm sure he doesn't mind." The children go crazy, walking up cautiously to stroke the spotted beige cat's pelt. The woman comes back, and I stand up, knowing that it's to _her_ I pay for this particular cat. I fish out my wallet, taking out the amount of money required in hundred dollar bills.

"I'll pay for the supplies with you as well," I tell her, and she nods.

"Thank you for buying Ramses; I was getting worried that no one would take him home, and I didn't want to put him to sleep. Such a beautiful thing should be given a wonderful home," she sighs, smiling and thanking me when I hand her the two thousand dollar sum for the cat, and the two hundred for the supplies. (A.N.: What'd I say? Walking-meowing wallet) "I've taken the necessary precaution already and I have a chip placed beneath his skin between his shoulder blades." I nod, handing her another five hundred for that, and she blinks, before understanding.

"He'll have an amazing home," I tell her, looking to Sora, who is positively beaming, never having been able to really be this close to a cat before. And now he's got a fucking _regal_ cat in his arms. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>He unlocks the door to his apartment, juggling the cat's leash in one hand - with Ramses in the harness at the end of it - and a bunch of bags in his other hand, containing food and health care items. I grin, holding the larger two items in my arms.<p>

"You're fucking _insane_, Roxas," Sora chuckles, not for the first time this afternoon. "But I fucking _love_ you."

I laugh now, closing the door behind me with my foot before setting the two things down on the ground. Sora kneels beside the cat, unclipping the harness and letting him roam. He looks at me, and his eyes are shining. I remember him telling me once as a kid that he loves cats, and found it quite unfair that he was allergic to their fur. I hand Sora the litter box with a grin.

"Enjoy shitty duty," I tell him, and he grins as well, taking it and slipping into the bathroom to take care of that. I look to Ramses, who is washing his foot. "Come on, I'll give you something to eat." He follows me without protest or noise as I walk to the apartment kitchen, taking out the bowl from the bag on the table and the bag of food as well. I place the full bowl on the ground, and he walks up to it, munching away. I take the liberty of pouring some cold water into another cat bowl as well, setting it down beside the other bowl. His ear flicks sideways at me, but otherwise, he doesn't move. Sora comes back out, picking up the bed I'd insisted the woman get as well and sets it in the living room, before coming towards me.

"I'm sure you'll take amazingly good care of him," I say, laughing a little, and he nods, looking to Ramses.

"Thank you, Roxas... he's an amazing gift. The best I've ever gotten," he says, honesty written all over his face and his gestures.

"I guess that means I do care for you," I reply, and he laughs. "Happy birthday, Sora."

He surprises me into a near bone-crushing hug, and I smile, because I know I've made him fucking ecstatic - he's shaking a little.

"I mean it, Rox. You're fucking amazing," he laughs in my ear, before pulling away to kiss me deeply, not hesitating in the slightest. My hand, which had been resting on the counter, slips slightly and makes me loose my balance, so I grab onto his shirt for support, never breaking his kiss as I'm forced to lean into him slightly to keep my balance. He chuckles when I moan against his lips, really not giving a damn anymore about making noise or not. I don't want to break it, but then I remember the other thing I wanted to do, so I pull back, making him confused. I smile.

"As much fun as this is, Sora, there's another place I want to visit with you," I tell him, still leaning against him. He smirks.

"You sure look like you wouldn't mind me continuing," he replies, and I laugh, closing my eyes while doing so.

"No, I wouldn't," I admit. "But as much as I enjoy you doing that, I really want to go to this other place... you'll like it."

He nods, and I straighten myself again, not quite releasing all contact with him, making him smile at that. I let go, and look to Ramses.

"And I'm sure this little guy here will enjoy taking a walk with us... it's not far, and I know that at this time of day, not a lot of people will be there, if any."

"Alright, show me this magical place of yours, then, oh wise and all-powerful warlock," he says with a grin, giving me a flourish. I snort, an eyebrow raised.

"You may call me Roxas, thank you," I smile, making him laugh. He attaches the harness on his cat - and I notice he pets him gently a few times as well, smiling - motioning for me to go ahead of him so he can lock the door. I wait for him outside while he closes the door, turning to me and gesturing I lead the way. I take his hand, pulling him with me along down the stairs.

* * *

><p>"This place looks familiar to me," he mutters when we enter the park. It's deserted at this time of the evening, it having taken us nearly two hours to walk here, but like he told me, he doesn't really care how long it takes.<p>

"Of course it would," I tell him, walking over to the fountain in the middle of the park and running my fingers through the trickling water that is flowing over the statues of the two angels. "This is the park we met at when we were eight." Ramses gets up on the rim of the fountain, puts a paw in the water, before putting all four into the water and purring.

"He likes water... unbelievable," Sora mutters, laughing. "Really?"

"Yes... I lived here during that time, in a different house." I tell him, looking to Ramses. Smiling I put some water into my hand and trickle it over him. He looks at me, not really bothered by the water.

"We met by this fountain, right?" He asks, and I nod, smiling at him. "Someone had taken your papers you'd been drawing on and threw them into the water."

"And you, being the _tough eight year old_ that you were, you punched the kid and told him to get lost. You got my scribbles back and handed them to me, apologizing for the kid about ruining them." I finish, and we both laugh at the memory, my chest throbbing at the sound of his laugh. "I remember how you always protected me, telling me that you'd promised to protect me whenever I asked you why you did it."

"You'd called me your lucky charm once, right?" He asks, sitting on the edge of the fountain. I sit down as well, our legs touching and our hands clasped together, resting on his thigh. I nod. "How you wished that you would always remain my friend, because it made you happy."

"You kept the visions away when you were around," I tell him, smiling. "You still do. You were my only friend, and I was grateful for it." I look to the canopy of trees above us. "I guess it was around then I began falling in love with you."

He remains silent a moment, before giving me a shit-eating grin and closing his eyes, punching at the air above his head with his left hand - his free hand, mind you, but if his right hand was free, he'd be using that one, too - and smiling at me.

"I knew I'd get you to say it!" He exclaims, making me blink in confusion. "I told you earlier I'd get you to tell me you love me, remember?"

"I never said it; I implied it," I huff, ever-stubborn. He shakes his head.

"No, you said it, you stubborn ass," he says, eyes shining. I roll my eyes, sighing. "But thank you, Roxas... it means a lot to me."

"If it means that much to you," I sigh again, putting my head in my hands. I mumble something at him, but I know he couldn't have understood it.

"What'd you say?" He asks.

"I said," I start, and mumble the same incoherent shit.

"Roxas, get your face out of your hands and tell me," he orders firmly but gently, taking my head and pulling it away from my hands. "And say it to my face." My cheeks heat up.

"Fine. I love you, you dork. Happy?" I ask. He beams, breaking the distance to give me a kiss.

"Extremely," he says, pulling back. "Best birthday gift all day."

"Well that's not very nice to your cat," I pout, and he grins. "You're such a jackass." (A.N.: One Sora reply, coming up! XD)

"And you've got a sexy one," he replies, smirking and making me blush further. "You know, you look cute when you blush."

"Fuck you," I mutter, looking away. (A.N.: One more, please! =D )

"Maybe later, if you're lucky," he says with a laugh as I jerk, eyes opening wide before casting him a glare. "Very molestable."

"A-anyways, we should get going now, it's going to get dark." I squeak at the grin he gives me, and I know he's going to say something so _Sora-like_ again.

"Interesting things happen in the dark though," he pouts, eyes shining. I sigh, getting up and grabbing his wrist, pulling him up. Ramses follows obediently, shaking water from his fur.

* * *

><p>"Stay here for the night," Sora suggest, throwing his keys onto the table. I raise an eyebrow at that, but I say nothing. Ramses struts to his bowl of food, and begins to eat. "I'll make supper, to thank you for the supper you made me yesterday."<p>

"I won't die, will I?" I ask, and he sighs, putting his face in his hand.

"Not funny, Rox," he says, serious.

"Serious doesn't suit you," I mutter, and he grins.

"But you bought it," he replies. "No, I'm a pretty good cook."

"I'll be the judge of that," I tell him, grabbing a chair and turning it around, sitting in it. He laughs, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Enjoy the show," he smiles, going to the fridge.

_-x- Maybe we're all insane -x-_

Twenty minutes later, and I'm staring at what he calls a _Gyro_, a sort of Greek dish. Inside the pita bread, there's meat he cooked, with something he called _Tzaitziki _ sauce over it, garnished with tomatoes and onions. He also says he has two other things cooking in the oven: _Kourabiedes_ and _Loucoumades_, both of which I helped him make. Their both Greek deserts - _a Greek theme_, he said - and the foremost is supposed to be made during Christmas, he says, but he doesn't care much for that. He had me knead the flour, butter and the crushed almonds, laughing when I complained about doing the dirty work and rewarding me with flour in my hair. The latter we had to fry balls of dough that we then drenched in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. (A.N.: I love Greek food, and those desserts are making me drool. Thank you Wikipedia! =D)

"They're not going to kill you," he says with a smile, already biting into his supper. I laugh.

"I wasn't thinking of that," I tell him, following suit. My eyes widen at the taste, and I look at him in surprise. "Much better than I thought it would be."

"Should I take that as a compliment or as an insult?" He asks, and I smile at him.

"Definitely a compliment," he smiles in return, before laughing and pointing at my cheek. When I stare at him in confusion, he leans towards me and licks something off my cheek, making me embarrassed.

It's like that most of the evening; he gets up after we're done to take the desserts from the oven, and we continue to sit at the table, talking about anything and everything and learning more about each other. The smell is almost intoxicating, it smells so good.

"So exactly what do you want to do when you graduate?" I ask, leaning on my hand as he gets up and grabs two plates. He puts one of each in the plates before sitting back down and handing me one. After the supper, I don't hesitate to bite into them. He laughs at my actions.

"I was thinking music," he tells me. "I figured that music makes up such a large part of my life, so I'd go do that. How about you?"

"I want to be an artist," I tell him with a smile, having devoured the dessert and licking my lips. He raises an eyebrow, and I frown at my sticky fingers. He chuckles, and motions for me to give him my hands. I do so, an eyebrow raised, which makes him laugh. "Sora!" I complain, pulling my hands back. He grins, and I get up to wash them. "I doubt your spit will get rid of the problem."

"So then, how about we add a new problem to your hands?" He asks.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, and I feel him wrap his arms around me and press himself onto my back, earning a blush from me. His hands roam my chest beneath my shirt as I turn a glare at him. He grins back.

"You like it. Admit it," he says, and I huff, turning my eyes away from him. "You sure you want to turn your eyes away from me? I might do something bad~"

"I'll castrate you with a wooden spoon if you do," I threaten, face flushing as his soft lips brush over the side of my neck. "I mean it."

"I have the right mind in me to chance it," he says, and I sigh. "But I'll let you shower if you want. On one condition,"

"Uh oh," I look over my shoulder at him, and he grins like if he's staring at a prize. I probably am.

"I'm going with you."

* * *

><p><em>"I swear to every last god out there if you don't-"<em>

* * *

><p>*Insert shit-eating smirk here*<p>

...That is all, my friends, that is all.

I love you all too!~ In the most homo way possible! *Completely kidding ;3*

_Song of the chapter: Where Butterflies Never Die_ by_ Broken Iris._

I'm going to make it so that every chapter name and every song in this fanfic will be a song from _Broken Iris. 3 I'm the only one in my school who knows them D= Like wtf? We're over 800 students._


	4. Eyes of Tomorrow

_4,703 words... I can do this! Deadline: MIDNIGHT! FUCK I WON'T MAKE IT! My one-day deadline! TA T_

_FINALLY 6,100+ words!_

I saved my ass from being forced to go to the cottage for the week, meaning I can continue this giftfic :D

Reviews! (Because you all rock like that)

_For Scarletnight13: _That's really good to hear! :D It makes me want to make more giftfics now, but I'll finish this one before starting on another giftfic ;D

_For KatrinaEagle: _I don't know anyone who's heard of _Broken Iris..._ they're just not that well known, and it's a damn shame, too. I like leaving you all on the homo-implied cliffies ;D Makes you guys want to see what happens next, ne?

_For OmniaVanitas: _Yay for sweetness! :D And I can't make a sad ending for my life, so it probably will ;3 Unless I decide to be cruel and kill Sora/Roxas, but I lurve them too much to do that! I'm trying to upload one chapter a day, so fast updates are a must ;3 And thank you! :D

_For Innocent Uke Or NOT: _I'm glad you found it creative :3 And yes, I got the Equivalent Exchange thing from Fullmetal Alchemist, because that Anime/manga just pwns like that ;3 And yes, those cat's are _fucking adorable! So soft~_ *Fangirls over it* Your review made me laugh a lot at the end, too XD

_Thank you to everyone who has favorited and alerted so far! I love you guys in the most homo way possible! (Not even kidding XD Or am I...?)_

_Phlyx:_ Warning ;3 This chapter (especially the beginning) is a _read for the nosebleeds_! Which is why the rating changed ;3 Alsothere'.

_Song: Eyes of Tomorrow _by _Broken Iris_

_Enjoy A New Hope!_

* * *

><p><strong>A New Hope<strong>

**4**

**Eyes of Tomorrow**

_Sora_

"You have _got_ to be fucking with me," Roxas mutters after a short silence.

"Not yet," I smirk, and he sighs, hand meeting his head as he facepalms. "It'll be just like when we were kids~"

"We were _eight!_" He exclaims in exasperation. "I'll wait until I get home tomorrow."

"Hey, you might not want to leave tomorrow, who knows?" I ask, hands brushing up his sides and making him glare at me. "And humor me, just for a little bit~" He sighs through his nose.

"I know you'll rape me if I say yes," he mutters. "But I know you'll be depressed all night if I don't. You're such a fucking paradox."

"Just say yes," I whisper, lips near his ear. "It'll be fun, I promise." Is it just me, or did his breathing pattern change?

"F-fine," he mutters. "Just because I don't want you upset." I smile, positively purring in his ear. He pushes me off, keeping his gaze off of me. "You can be such a pervert sometimes, Sor."

My eyebrows shoot up at the nickname, and I smile. "At least you know, Roxy. Come on, let's go!" I tug on his wrist, my hands having snaked down his arm to it, and he looks at me, an eyebrow raised.

"You're acting like a child," he says, laughing a little, but he follows me. There's a blush on his face, making me wonder something.

I pause just inside the bathroom, putting my lips near his ear. "What're you thinking about, Roxy~? Can I know?" He flinches.

"About how you're such a pervert," he grumbles, face flushing further and disentangling himself from me. He walks up to the shower, turning the knobs to change the water temperature.

"If you're nervous," I smirk, making him look at me, that same blush still on his face. "I can do it for you~"

"Fuck no. You'll jump me if you do that, and I know it," he says, turning back around and fumbling with his shirt. "I can do without that."

I chuckle, already having let my shirt fall to the floor and now working on my belt buckle. Once everything else falls to the floor, I look at Roxas, and he's still facing away from me, slipping his last piece of clothing off. I walk up behind him, and I grin. He flinches, probably already knowing that I am.

He doesn't look at me; he simply gets in and faces the wall as I follow, tilting my head to the side.

"You're cute when you're nervous," I tell him, and he flinches, daring a look over his shoulder at me. The tiniest peek, and he squeaks, turning back around and letting the hot water pelt him. I go up behind him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and holding him against my chest, making him let out a shaky breath. I kiss his cheek gently.

"I'm scared, not nervous," he says gently, looking over his shoulder at me, and I see the sincerity in his eyes. I smile gently at him.

"I won't do anything you're uncomfortable with," I tell him, but he shakes his head, sending water flying.

"No, I can take it. Just... I don't know," he laughs nervously, taking a shaky breath. "It's not you that's scaring me, it's..."

"I'll be careful," I tell him. "And stop whenever you ask." He nods shakily, and I can feel his heart resonate. I bring his lips to mine, relishing in the fact that the only thing I can see is perfect darkness, the only thing I can taste is him, the only thing I can hear is his erratic breathing, all I can smell is the slight vanilla tang to his skin, and feel his skin slide smoothly under my fingertips.

He turns around in my arms, hands finding my shoulders and gripping them gently as he turns his head slightly, deepening the kiss. We part, and he leans back again for another kiss, his cheeks flushing deeply as I close my eyes once more. We continue this process as my hands simply go up and down his back, until he parts his lips slightly, so I dive in, deepening it even more. He shudders, fingers digging into my skin a little before his hands travel into my hair, leaning against me a little. A small laugh escapes his lips.

"I don't think... my knees will hold me up," I laugh at that, hitching his legs around my waist to hold him up, and he leans his head back against the wall, allowing me to ravage his neck. He shudders again, fingers clutching at my hair, surprisingly submissive despite his personality. I smile against his skin.

"I can make it either gentle or rough," I whisper huskily against his skin. He looks at me, eyes half-lidded. "Thought so," I grin, trailing my lips down, my tongue darting out to lick at his skin. He shudders again, my tongue piercing cold against his skin warmed by the shower.

"S-Sora," he whispers as I put his feet on the ground and push him up against the shower wall, flush against my body. He bites his lip. "I-I'm scared."

"You'll be alright," I reassure him gently, and he nods shakily, still giving my hair the death-grip treatment. I don't tell him that it starts to hurt, kissing his lips gently. He returns the touch shyly just as I slip a single digit, making him stiffen. Wincing internally, I slip my tongue into his mouth, making him shudder and let out a moan I don't think he could find the discipline in him to care about. I smirk at that thought and explore his mouth more fully as a second one enters, and I feel him flinch. He tries to lean away from the touch, and that makes him lean towards me. I break the kiss to gasp, and he looks at me, eyes half-lidded. "Don't... don't do that." I say through gritted teeth. He nods, relaxing some. "I'm almost done... hold on a second, okay?" He nods frantically this time, until I slip in a third finger, at least. He grits his teeth more, so I return to kissing him to distract him a little.

_Where the fuck is -_

He gasps a high-pitched sound as I find it, making me grin. His hands grip my shoulders with a death grip, but I don't care. He gasps again against my lips, and I erase the minute space between our lips as I continue to do that, swallowing his gasps as they come, gasping right into my mouth as I molest his.

"Gods, Roxas," I practically moan against his lips, making him shudder, the running water of the shower completely forgotten by now. "I fucking _want_ you."

He gasps, only to moan as I remove my fingers from within him, holding the sides of his hips tightly. He instinctively moves his hips forward, and both of us lean our heads back at the touch and moan at the same time, only to try and attain the same type of friction. Our lips meet again as we do that, our gasps and moans going into each other's mouth and into the world when we part for air every few moments. I pin his shoulders against the wall harshly, never breaking lip contact and grinding into him still, earning fucking _delicious _sounds from him as we give up lip-locking seeing as we part for breath every three seconds. He tilts his head to the side, resting it against his right shoulder.

"Sora..." he says, voice cracking into another loud moan. "Fuck, Sora. _Please_. I fucking _need_ you."

"I was waiting for that," I chuckle, hitching his legs around my waist and hoisting him up, and I thrust into him with one fluid motion. He screams.

It's loud and it hurts me because I know I'm causing his pain, but I snap my eyes shut and manage to push all the way in despite the fact that it hurts him. My hands are clamped tightly on his hips and I put my lips on his to try and silence him. He shudders.

"Gods, Sora!" He cries out once he finds his voice, nails digging into my skin.

"Calm down, Rox, it's okay," I whisper, wincing. But gods he hurts like a mother fucker. He stiffens further, and I bite back a cry. "Please."

"I want it _out_!" He cries, and when I see a tear fall, I panic.

"Gods, Roxas, listen to me!" He opens his eyes to look at me, amazing ice blue's looking at me with pain. "Relax, I know it hurts, but you're hurting me too, okay? I need you to calm down..." Something flashes in his eyes when I say he's hurting me, and he nods. "Focus on something else."

It takes a full two minutes, but I let out a sigh of relief when it stops hurting. Roxas looks at me, nodding.

"Promise me... this won't be a one-night stand, Sora," he gasps, and I nod, childishly wrapping my pinkie with his and making him smile.

"Now for the fun part," I smirk, and I see him look at me with wide eyes. "Time to drive you insane."

He blinks in confusion when I pull almost all the way out, before slamming back in hard. He gasps, clawing at my shoulders, head falling back against the wall. I continue, quickly finding out that he likes it hard and rough, despite looking fragile and thin. With his bones almost showing through his pale skin, you'd imagine that he'd be fragile.

But my mind goes blank after that when I find what I'm looking for, making him cry out my name. I smirk.

"Found it~" I say, and he looks at me, but I slam back in, cutting off his words. "Say my name again, Roxy."

"F-fuck!" He curses, eyes snapped shut in his moment of euphoria. "Sora..." My name seems to be a trigger, because he begins to call out my name and make other marvelous noises in a sweet symphony. I crash my lips with his, the pain he's causing in my shoulders making me want to give back some of that pain. I dart my tongue in and out of his mouth in time with my thrusts, driving him insane.

"Oh gods- Sora!" He cries out my name in such an amazing way as he stiffens, exploding with one final movement. He shudders in my hold while I feel myself letting go too, pounding one final time before exploding in him. He moans at that while I cry out his name, capturing my lips as I ride it out, my knees shaking from the weight they support as soon as we both finally come down from cloud infinity.

"See?" I pant shakily, collapsing onto my knees and barely being able to pull out. He leans against the wall, letting me see his body for the first time and not seeming to care for it. But I don't care either; I kiss his lips in a messy, tired lip-lock, parting quickly for air. "There was nothing to be worried about."

He laughs shakily, smiling with his hands still on my shoulders.

"I love you, Sora," he says shakily, and I stand up with some effort, helping him up. His knees give out almost immediately, so I pick him up bridal-style and run the water on him after turning it from near-scalding to near freezing. He sighs in relief, leaning his head on my right shoulder.

"I love you too, Roxas," I reply, and he laughs, still breathing hard. He wraps his arms more tightly around my neck, holding on as I turn off the shower and step out. I leave the clothes there and sit him on the counter, toweling off his hair. He smiles at me from behind his mop of golden yellow hair, his cheeks flushed. "You seem to be uncaring now as to whether not I see your naked body." I state, an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe because I want you to drive me insane again soon," he murmurs, running his finger along my collarbone. I grin at his words.

"I'm all up for round two, but I think your legs will kill you in the morning as it is, so~" I smile, drying myself off quickly now. (A.N.: Aww, sappy moment coming up! In three, two...)

"Sex hurts that bad in the morning?" He asks. I tsk, flicking him on the forehead and making him look at me in curiosity.

"Sex is what you do when you're only doing it for the sake of doing it; what we did - _make love_ - is what you do when you truly love someone and when you want to be _whole_ with that person, even if it may be for one fleeting moment." I tell him, and he blushes. He smiles up at me.

"Okay," he says, closing his eyes. I pick him back up and carry him into my bedroom, setting him down on top of the red blanket. I kiss his forehead gently, settling in beside him. He immediately turns towards me, tangling his legs with mine and wrapping his arms around my neck, pulling me in for a kiss. A sweet and gentle one, hiding the promise that we'll wake up to each other in the morning.

* * *

><p>The damn sun wakes me up the next morning - well that, and a small weight on my chest helps. I crack an eye open and look, to see a spray of golden hair on my chest. I smile, leaning back against my pillow and petting his smooth locks of hair with my hand gently, looking to the ceiling. My left hand is being held loosely by his right hand, and my other one is occupied with his hair. His legs are still tangled with mine, and if I'm not mistaken, he's drooling. That observation makes me laugh lightly to myself.<p>

It causes him to stir, his soft breathing changing. I feel his eyelashes tickling my chest as he opens his eyes.

"Good morning lovely," I murmur, and he looks at me tiredly, his left hand rubbing at his eyes. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a dead man," he murmurs in reply, and I smile at that. "Not a single nightmare about someone dying."

"That's good." I smile gently at him, leaning towards him for a kiss. "How about I make you breakfast, princess?"

He laughs lightly, breaking the kiss quickly enough and nodding. "What's on the menu?"

"I was thinking an Egyptian dish, it's called _Mashi waraa enab,_ and considering the time, I think you'll like it. I'll make us some _Koshary_ tea with it." He stares at me, unsure. "Oh sue me, I like cooking foreign food." He laughs, and I get up to go find him some clothes. As fun as having a naked Roxas walking around my apartment, I don't think it'll be a good idea - and trust me, it's sounding positively _kinky_ right now. (A.N.: Pervert Sora is fun~ Ah fuck, another M rated XD)

I hand him a shirt and undershorts, chuckling a _"We're even now,"_ at him when he looks at me uneasily. He sighs, and while I slip my own clothes on, he pulls his shirt on while wincing. I sigh, helping him into the undershorts. He makes me look away - the chicken shit, and I made sure that he knew it - before picking him up and carrying him to the kitchen. Setting him down onto the chair of the dining table, I start with the tea, placing the tea leaves in the pot and boiling the teapot on the stove as I begin preparing the grape leaves. (A.N.: As you can see, I am quite the fan of foreign food too C: I'd make a good critic XD )

"I wonder if anyone heard you," I start casually, making him splutter. I chuckle, grinning. "Well, you were pretty loud, and a bathroom _does_ only serve to amplify sounds."

He groans, putting his head in his hands. I fish a bottle of painkillers from the cabinet, getting him a glass of water and giving the two of them to him. I kneel in front of him.

"For what its worth," I start, causing him to look at me. "It wasn't half bad."

"Pervert," he mutters, blushing and making me laugh. A persistent little meow comes from the ground, and Roxas looks down, giggling when he see's its Ramses. The feline jumps onto his lap, purring.

"Hey," I start, continuing to prepare our lunch as he pets the cat to keep myself from fidgeting. "I know it's not much here but... do you want to come stay here with me?"

He splutters, choking on his breath. I keep my head down, looking intently to my hands and feeling the blush attacking my face.

"I mean, I know its sudden and we've only really known one-another for four days since we were torn apart, but... ah, how should I put this..."

"First, put down the knife," he chuckles shakily, putting his hands on my right wrist and coaxing me into letting go. I put it on the counter and turn around to look at him.

"Roxas, you're hurt!" I protest, knowing that he's standing even though it must hurt like a mother fucker.

"Silly, its the pain of a good memory," he murmurs, making me blush further. "But what brought this on?"

"I like having you around," I say, shrugging. "You keep the death away, and I like the breaks. It's selfish to want you around for that reason - don't get me wrong, it's not only because of that, and you're one mother fucking hot tamale to look at - but I can't help it."

He laughs a little, holding my hands.

"Seriously? A hot tamale? Any nicer similes you have?" He asks, and I sigh.

"I'll sound sappy again!" I grumble.

"So then, I want to hear them," he says, and I sigh through my nose.

"Like the sun to a blind man; the first rose of summer; a mother fucking bottle of wine to a winemaster... is any of this getting to you?" He nods with a smile, a blush staining his cheeks.

"Yes, all of it is," he says with a soft smile. "I will, Sora. I don't give a damn about how _little_ you think it may be, if it's you, I'd do anything for you."

I grin.

"Alright then... if you'll do anything, strip." His smile melts as he sighs.

"Not happening... well, not in my current state, at least. I _did_ promise you another night..." he smirks, giving me a small kiss. Right as we meet, the teapot whistles, scaring the living hell out of the two of us and making me curse like a sailor. He laughs behind his hands as I stalk off to prepare the lunch I was forgetting about; I look back over my shoulder at him, and he beams at me.

"For what it's worth," he starts, mimicking my voice with a grin. "It wasn't half bad."

* * *

><p>"It'll be a nice change, I think," he says with a smile, zipping up the suitcase. I struggle with the tape stuck between my hands, frowning as it just keeps getting more and more stuck. He laughs as one piece gets stuck in my hair. "No longer living with dad, that is."<p>

"You owe me a hell of a lot for turning me into your personal lackey for this," I mutter, ripping the tape out of my hair and wincing, ripping a good hundred strands out as well.

"I love you too," he says innocently, winking at me. "And I'll pay you back, promise." Now I raise an eyebrow at him, shrug, and pick up the three boxes off the ground, and I begin to make my way.

He catches up to me as I open the trunk to my car - I rarely use it, its so damn presumptuous - and place the boxes inside, looking at him and taking the suitcase he hands to me.

"But I'm really grateful you helped me with it," he says, smiling genuinely. "I knew it was going to take a while."

"Hey, I would've helped you even if you weren't moving in with me," I tell him, snapping the trunk to my charger shut. "Which, might I add, makes my day."

"I thought it might," he laughs, looking to the car. "Though I never expected you to have a fucking _hot_ car!"

"Well well well, are you by any chance a car boy?" I ask with a grin, and he squeaks.

"Well, no, but it's just that I didn't expect to see you own a car like this," he says quickly, and I raise an eyebrow at him. He backs up when I take a step forward, his back hitting the side door.

"I wouldn't own a beater, that's for fucking sure," I chuckle, grinning at him. "Would you like to explore it more deeply with me?" I ask in a manner suggesting we explore _other_ things.

"No fucking way. I'm still sore," he opens the passenger's door and gets in, glaring at me. "Calm your hormones, Casanova."

I pout, walking to the drivers side and climbing in, gunning the engine. I look at him, and he looks at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Can I at least get a kiss?" I ask, and he sighs.

"If it will stop you from molesting me in this car, fine," he sighs again, and I grin, leaning in for a kiss. He squeaks as I don't even leave him any warning before I slip my tongue into his mouth, leaning towards him and causing him to lean against the door, shuddering. I grin, and his fingers grab my arms. "Sora, I thought you told me you wouldn't-"

"I'm not!" I protest innocently. "I'm just stealing a kiss from my boyfriend."

His cheeks flush at my words, and I place my left hand beside his thigh on the seat, pushing myself onto his side so that I'm straddling his legs, his face held between my hands. He frowns at me, an adorable blush on his cheeks.

"Really?" He asks, looking at me in surprise. "I-I'm your boyfriend?"

"Technically, you're my lover," I chuckle, lips close to his. "Or would you rather be fuck friends?" (A.N.: _LOL!_)

He presses his lips on mine, a smile on his lips. "Definately lover." I chuckle, attacking his lips.

* * *

><p>"Well, that was rather long, now was it?" Roxas sighs, collapsing onto the couch. I laugh a little, sitting down beside him. He looks at me, smiles, and leans his head on my shoulder, both of his hands clasping my right hand. "And I wonder who's fault that is?"<p>

"Hey, it's not my fault you're a fucking bomb to look at, you know. The moment you stop looking like one, things will be quicker," I grin and it causes him to sigh. "Though I kind of wish you never do stop looking like a bomb."

He looks out the window to the setting sunlight, and to the lights of the city that are beginning to flicker on.

"Rox? How about we go somewhere?" I ask him, and he looks back at me curiously.

"Where do you have in mind?" He straightens as I stand, helping him to his feet. I just smile at him, grabbing my keys and twirling them on my index finger as I pull him along.

"It's not far from here," I tell him as I lock the door. "I used to go there about a month ago because an old friend of mine works there, and she wanted company on some nights." He raises an eyebrow at me, making me laugh as I pull him along beside me down the small flight of stairs and onto the street filling with couples and families. "You'll see."

An old couple gives us the evil eye when they notice us holding hands, and the man sighs in disapointment, muttering the "_It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,_" story at us. Roxas fidgets, letting go of my hand, so I pause in my strides and give the old coot the iciest glare I've done in a while.

"Hey, put a goddamn sock in it, you old fart! Why don't you take your goddamn _Eve_ and shove her _and_ your wife up your prehistoric wrinkly old ass? And while your at it, _fuck off and stop insulting us, you goddamn mother fucking ass_, or I'll fuck you up so good they won't even be able to use your goddamn _dental record_ to identify you!" I snap, and he takes a step back, his wife gasping. Someone within the people around us yells _"Tell him off!"_ and cheers. "If you got a mother fucking problem with what we do, then shut the fuck up and walk away." (A.N.: Tell him off, Sora! Fuck homophobia! Fuck it and all who have it! (My goddamn friend is hated and teased by my _father_ because my father is homophobic and my friend just so happens to be gay. I mean, grow up! |:U You're forty-four!)

"Don't single us out just because we're not like you," Roxas says gently, standing closely beside me. He's fidgeting with his hands, but he's staring at the old man with pity. "We're human too, just like you. I'm sorry if my partner yelled at you and it offended you, but please do take a lesson from what he's said. Some of us wouldn't hesitate to punch you for what you said," he looks at me now, smiling gently, but he looks sad. "Let's go before you do hurt them," he says, taking hold of my hand again.

I nod, glaring daggers at the man and putting my arm around Roxas' waist just to spite him as we walk away. We remain quiet until we get close to a staircase the leads downwards to a door. I pause near it, looking at him intently.

"Did it bother you?" I ask him, and he looks at me in surprise.

"A bit, I suppose... I mean, I didn't know people could be so... _rude_ to others like that just because of their orientation."

"Some people are blinded by religion," I tell him, looking to the stars that begin to shine in the sky. "They think that it must always be right... always be a woman with a man, and any other form of love is a sin. But that's because they've never experienced that type of love before, and what humans don't understand, they revere."

"I guess you're right," he says with a smile, looking at me. I smile at him in return, leading him down the steps and to the door, where music can be felt pounding on the ground. I open the door and let him in first with a flourish, making him laugh despite himself. After letting go of the door, I motion for him to follow me through the throng of people, holding onto his hand. We wouldn't want my little bombshell getting taken by some drunk bastard now, would we?

"Sora?" The woman behind the counter gets on her toes to try and see me over the heads of two men making out. "Move the fuck out of my line of sight!" She snarls at them, making all nearby drunk people scatter. "My gods it _is_ you! I'd recognize that crazy hairdo anywhere!"

"Hey Yuffie," I grin, sitting down on one of the now-vacant barstools. Roxas sits down on the other hesitantly. "I brought a friend of mine with me."

"He's so cute!" She squeals, turning onto Roxas. He stares at her wide-eyed. "And looks really innocent, too. No wonder you took a liking to him, Sora. I wouldn've called you crazy if you hadn't."

"His name's Roxas," I tell her, looking to the blonde in question. "Rox, this is Yuffie, an old friend of mine."

"I just want to know where the fuck you've brought me," he sighs, rolling his eyes. "Hi there. It's nice to meet you." She rattles his teeth as she takes his free hand and shakes it vigorously.

"Isn't it obvious?" I ask, leaning my elbow on the bar and resting my cheek on my hand. "Or did all the homosexuals around you not give you a strong enough hint?"

"A gay bar?" He asks, blinking. I laugh, and Yuffie joins in.

"He's priceless! Making it sound like if he's never been to one!" She laughs, snapping at a man when he demands her attention. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I didn't know I was gay until four days ago, actually, so no," he tells her softly, and she cracks up again, holding her sides.

"Gods, Sora, will you never cease to amaze me! Turning an innocent man gay?" She asks, leaning against the bar and wiping her eyes.

"It's a talent," I shrug, and Roxas laughs a bit at that.

"But you're the first one he's brought here, Roxas, so you must be pretty special to Sora. I'd never seen him with anyone here before," she looks at me with her large brown eyes. "The usual?"

"Yes, please; for me and for Rox," I say, and she nods, turning around to fufil the order, snapping at the same man when he complains at her for shitty service. She owns the goddamn bar, so I'm positive she can do what she wants.

"What the fuck is this?" He asks, staring at the drink.

"Something to kill those over-smart braincells of yours," I smirk, downing my own almost in one shot. (A.N.: I don't know alcoholic stuff very well, so imagine them drinking beer or w/e XD) "Relax! They'll regenerate... eventually."

Yuffie cracks up, looking towards the DJ, who switches up the songs.

"Hey, Sora. Demyx is playing one of your favorites - he must've seen you walk in with the little blonde bombshell," Roxas chokes as he hears her, but I grin, taking his wrist as the familiar beat begins to play in my ears.

"Come on, _blonde little bombshell_," I tease with a smirk, leading him along to the dance floor. "I'll show you how we do it around here."

"I don't like the sound of that," he murmurs, making me laugh as I find us an open space. His eyes widen remarkably as he see's the people around us dancing in very... _provocative_ ways. "Sora..."

"Have I made you done anything you've regretted yet?" I ask him, an eyebrow raised as I turn and step right into his personal space. He shakes his head. "There we go; just follow my lead."

_Here I stand tranquilized in this little white room of mine  
>Here I go on my own in that redefined world inside<em>

He blushes an attractively deep crimson as I coax him into mimicking the dancing of the people around us. I wink at him, and he looks at me, icy blue eyes shining but looking a little nervous. I put my lips to his ears.

"Stop thinking with that brilliant mind of yours for once," I tell him. "Let yourself live a little, Roxas. We don't know how much time we have; make the best of it." He nods.

_So, why do you take this, conquer and dismay this  
>Peaceful sanity of mine?<br>You're attempting to bore me, shatter and destroy me  
>It's worthless and fuels my gain<em>

"L-like this?" He asks shyly, blushing and grinding into me as I'd instructed him to do, making me smirk and nod. I press his lips to mine as we dance - but really, can it be called dancing? At least we're not the ones practically in each other's pants... yet - attacking his mouth and enticing small noises from him as he trails his hands from my hair to my shoulders agonizingly slowly, before he slides his hands on my chest to my shoulderblades, dipping his entire body towards me for but a moment.

_Maybe we're all insane..._

"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" I smirk in his ear, making him laugh in mine.

"Positive," he replies, lips ghosting over the shell of my ear and making me shiver. "But it's more fun than I'd thought it'd be."

_There you stand ignorantly, just a monotone pallet you see  
>If there was a color created for me, it'd consist in shades of three<br>I see you enjoy this while I exploit this  
>Brief insanity of mine<br>Percieve and understand you  
>Is far more than I can do<br>Perception left far behind_

"I told you so~" I laugh, and he slides himself up my body a little. "You're one good dancer, I'll tell you that much."

"I learn quickly; it pays to have a smart mind," he chuckles in my ear.

_Maybe we're all insane  
>The way we live reminiscing for the head game<br>What if we're all insane?  
>I'm feeling so damn hollow staring into the Eyes of Tomorrow<em>

"Maybe if you're still feeling up for it later," I start, chuckling. "We'll explore some more back home~"

He laughs, nodding.

_He's coming around again, yes I'm feeling much better my friend  
>The doctor says I'm sorry you must attend to your little<br>White room again  
>To my little white room...<em>

"If _you're_ still feeling up for it," he answers. "We will."

"Is that a challenge, my little bombshell?" I ask, and he hums a moment, fingers trailing along my neck as we dance.

"Maybe~" he sings, laughing.

_Maybe we're all insane  
>The way we live reminiscing for the head game<br>What if we're all insane?  
>I'm feeling so damn hollow staring into the Eyes of Tomorrow<em>

* * *

><p>"Did you really have to rub it in their faces when we bumped into them?" Roxas chuckles, fingers clasped behind my neck as I press him against the door in the bedroom, smirking.<p>

"That old fart had it coming," I snort, nipping at his earlobe. "Mother fucker."

"Be nice, Sora," he chides, laughing. Something vibrates in his pocket, startling us both as he brings his left hand to his pocket and takes out his cell phone. He looks at the number. "The fuck...?" I let him go so he can answer it, leaning against the door and watching him. He puts the cell to his ear, mumbling a _"Hello?"_ into the receiver.

"What...?" I frown at his tone of voice, and he pauses dead in his tracks. "Yes, I am... no..." he falls silent at whatever it is the person on the other end of the call says. "I see... thank you. No, I'll be okay. Thank you." His words are final as he snaps his cell shut, staring at it like if it's a being from another galaxy. "Sora... my father..."

"No..." I walk up towards him, and my hands find his hand holding the cell in a death-grip.

"Yeah. His plane never landed... it crashed into a gas station," he looks at me with wide, shocked eyes. "He's dead."

* * *

><p>Oh my lawds, this took me a while to write ._. I did too much multi-tasking this evening XD<p>

I missed my deadline! D: Like wtf? But yeah, it took me a while to get started on this chapter because I was spiraling into depression without even knowing it. Thankfully my best friend knew just what to say and saved me from that depression. So all's good now :D


	5. The Scar

_Inspiration, check. Epic music blasting in my ear, check. Motivation from the reviews, **hell mother fucking yes**. Yep, it can only mean one thing! New chapter time!_

_Gods let the luck of the novelists be with me now! Haven't you made me make the readers suffer enough? :C_

_SORRY FOR THE DELAY! _FORGIVE ME! D:

**Reviews time:**

**For BreakingDawn x:** Thanks for leaving so many reviews! :D Homophobia for the fail D; I was like that at first, too. A blissfully ignorant child until I saw the possibilities of AkuRoku. That was my first yaoi obsession xD Yus, TEENAGERS SURF THE NET. SoRoku for the win, people okay with yaoi unite! xD  
>HOMFG You're a Broken Iris fan? *Insert fangirl squeal here* SHIT EATING GRIN, YUS. Happy Thanksgiving to you too :D And cake *drool*.<br>Sora the perv. Best passtime for a goody-two-shoes hero ;D I've never seen the picture you specified, but it sounds cool xD And I try to be original, so I'm glad to hear that! :D

**For Chelsea619:** Sorry for the long wait! D: Please don't eat me! D:  
>But I'm glad that you enjoyed the story thus far, and it's starting to get a little hard to write for reasons I<em> will<em> explain, and I hope you continue to love it!

**For Fluffy3314:** I have managed to make someone a Broken Iris fan? :D Cause their songs are just full of epic.  
>Don't die! D: I'm sorry! D: I'm glad you love it though, and hope you will continue to! :D<p>

**For Innocent Uke Or NOT:** Then I shall give the Cookie monster what he wants! xD He lives under your bed with bigfoot? I hope they're not doing anything down there D:  
>I found Roxas' father to be a useless character by this point, so killing him off seemed like a mercy to him ;3<br>*Hands out cookies* Nice "that's what she said" joke xD

**For Your Fictional Affair:** That right there made my day :3 You cried? Why? D:  
>I doubt this is better than the Hunger Games (cause the Hunger Games is a good series) but thank you! :D<p>

**For KatrinaEagle: **Yes, I'm very glad that she was there when she was. :3  
>xD! That's all I can say about your review: Made me laugh at the last part xD<p>

**For Scarletnight13: **I mostly got those things off of the top of my head xD I have a gay friend so I always have something ready to defend him should someone try to tell him he's going to go to hell for it. 'Cause we all know gays make the best of friends ;D  
>I'd never erase one of my fics ;3 Even if it would be discontinued; I'd leave it there in hopes that someone would read it and use the plot line in one of their own, but make it better than I ever did.<br>And that makes me so happy to hear that! ; A ;

Okay, so the reason why this took so long is because I'm slowly loosing the fanfiction fangirl phase after two and a half years ; A ; My novels are taking over my life, school is becoming important so I can get accepted into the college of my choice, and my inner gamer is coming our with a vengeance. So I hope you understand that it's highly possible that I don't update for months. I try, honestly. But with my work, school, and obsessions, it's damn well hard. So please forgive this crappy chapter. I wanted you guys to know that I'm not dead ; A ;

And if you have a suggestion as to what I should add in this fic, please tell me. It'll help me extend the story line.

* * *

><p><strong>A New Hope<strong>

**5**

**The Scar**

_Roxas_

It's funny how you expect things to be so perfect, things to always remain the same, but then everything crumbles into dust in your hands and you're left on the side of the road like some trash, to be disposed of inadequately. I realize it, like some bad movie that should never be allowed to have a happy ending, and it makes me want to scream to the heavens, cry out and beg. _How is this fair?_ How is having a life like this fair? How is surrendering our innocence for pain and agony fair, when all around us the others have yet to make such a sacrifice, and shall never sacrifice so much?

_How can you shatter an angel like that?_

The gods are even more selfish than the humans.

He wraps his arms around me, as if trying to hold me on the Earth, to stop me from escaping from his hold. He's afraid that I'll crumble, like sand falling between your fingers, and he'll never get to hold me again. His hold is strong and firm, but he's shaking just as much as I am while I look emptily to the window in the room, to the dark expanse of the sky twinkling with the stars.

_I thought I'd stopped caring for that man the day he ordered to let my mother die._

_That's a lie, isn't it?_

"Humans are like that," he whispers, as if having heard my thoughts. "We set ourselves up for disappointment all our lives, struggling for something unseen. We're pathetic, but we try and make ourselves feel better by trying to make a change in this world."

I can barely control my own actions as I turn around in his arms and return this shaky, strong embrace, maybe somehow afraid that he'll be ripped from my hold too. We're insignificant like that; the moment we're not needed, we're cast aside. But we can still make our own choices.

_I don't know if you've ever let someone down or straight up failed,_ I can feel them, those tears fall down my face like when I was ten years old. I don't want to pull away from the world, but it seems like if the world is pulling away from _me_ and not the other way around. _Those are the moments that define us._ Pulling back like a lost child, afraid to return to where it was but too afraid to leave, indecisive. _They push you further than you've ever thought possible and force you to make choices._ Sora and I meet in a frightened kiss, my hands clutching at him like a lifeline as his back meets the wall.

_No matter what the cost._

* * *

><p>There's a knocking in the morning that persistently makes a racket, but I can't really find it in myself to care about checking it out. Sora was awake long before I was, waiting for me to wake up. He kisses my forehead before disentangling himself from me, taking the time to cover me with a blanket before slipping on some pants and scratching the back of his head on the way to answer the door. I remain on the bed, trying to remove the sleep from my eyes and getting rid of the dried-up tears on my cheeks, before plopping my head on the pillow he uses to sleep. A cinnamon smell invades my nose, the smell that's distinctly <em>Sora<em>, and despite myself it makes me smile. I bury my head more deeply into the pillow as he opens the door.

"Oh good gods Sora answer the door more quickly next time! I was getting scared!" My ears twitch as I hear Yuffie, the bartender from yesterday, shout in protest.

"_Come right in Yuffie, don't bother asking if you can,_" I hear Sora mutter, closing the door shut. "Don't give me that look. He's in the bedroom, though I'm not sure if he's awake."

She pokes her head through the door frame, a large smile plastering on her face when she sights me with my eyes open. I wave a little at her, and as if she owns the place, she walks right in and sits down on the edge of the bed, followed by a mumbling Sora.

"The fuck pissed in your cornflakes this morning, Yuffie?" He asks, earning a glare. "Why are you barging in here, guns blazing, at nine in the morning?"

"We're late for school again," I say, but then I sigh and shrug. "Whatever, I don't care anymore." Sora laughs lightly at my words, sitting down beside me, but I make no move to sit up, mostly because my lower backside is hurting like hell again.

"I got worried about you two," she tells him, shooting Sora another glare. "When you two left practically in each other's pants, three men came in and asked around for you two; of course, no one could tell them where you'd gone or knew you in the first place. They asked me, but I wouldn't tell them anything, of course. I pretended I didn't know who they were talking about, so they left."

"I would be ready to bet on it having been a certain blonde man, kinda tall and built... scary looking?" Sora asks, and she nods vigorously. "Yeah, they were people from our school. They have something to do with Rox, but I never found out, so I can't tell you what it is they would want."

"In any case, I want you two to be careful, alright?" She asks, putting her hands between her knees and leaning forward slightly, swinging her feet and looking to them. "They're up to something and I don't like the looks of it. Scared half of my clientel yesterday out the doors... man, that's bad business!" She groans, putting her hands to her head and grabbing at her hair.

"It'll be fine, Yuffie," Sora reassures her with a smile. "Your clients know how nice that place is, and its a refuge for them to be themselves with their partners, when they cannot be that way anywhere else. They won't leave just because of some hardheaded ass."

"I hope you're right," she sighs, looking to me. "But in any case, are you sure nothing happened? Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"Not really, no..." I tell her gently, resting my head more fully on his pillow.

"In any case, are you two planning on going to your classes?" She asks, and I look to Sora, unsure.

"I don't think either one of us is up for it today, but we can if you want... it's not like we haven't skipped classes together before, though."

"No, I think it's best if you two go," she mutters, her thumb on her lower lip as she thinks. "But try and stay together... I'm really worried about what those three were planning. Try not to stray from each others' sight."

"Gotcha, Yuffie," Sora nods, and she stands up. I hide my entire face in his pillow, sighing and closing my eyes.

"Look, I don't know what's happened to have the two of you unlike the people I met yesterday," she says, lingering at the door frame. "But I want you two to fix it before you go; people search for weak chinks in armor and exploit these, so don't leave until you have fixed this. Whatever it is, I'm sure you two can make it through."

"Thanks, Yuffie. I'll call you if something comes up," Sora tells her, and I hear her walking down the apartment to the door. Moments later, the door snaps shut quietly.

We sit in a semi-uncomfortable silence, until I sigh into the pillow, the cinnamon smell almost too much to bear.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, looking to the light blue wall. I can feel his eyes on me, one of his hands rubbing soothing circles on my lower back, which is still covered by the blankets. "I don't know what happened... I think I let my emotions lead me, and I know that's not how it should have been. I shouldn't have done that, or forced my intentions upon you, and for that, I'm sorry, Sora."

"Hey, Rox, don't be sorry for that. I'm here to help you feel better, and whichever way that means is entirely up to you, but as long as it makes you feel better, I don't-"

"I don't want to use you like that!" I interrupt loudly, eyes snapping shut. "I don't want you to be so indifferent about it, either, Sora! I know it must bother you somewhere, but you're too nice to me to ever show that to me. If something ever bothers you, I don't want you to be afraid to tell me, or to stop me. I know what I did was wrong and it is not how you wanted it to be, because I've known your terms from the start. I don't want to use you like that..."

He laughs lightly, and I look at him. He looks back at me with a gentle look in his eyes, and that look hurts me.

"I know you're in pain, too. You're hiding your emotions from me by pretending you're okay... you're trying to protect me, and I appreciate that, but can you let me try and protect you, too? Can you let me know everything that goes on in your mind?" I lower my gaze. "I've already let you in, and I understand if you won't let me in but... at least have the decency to tell me you won't. I don't want to have this lingering pain come to me whenever I look at you and you flash me this gentle smile."

He sighs, looking to the ceiling, his hand still rubbing small circles on my back.

"All I really care about is that you are happy, Roxas, even if that means that my own happiness is thrown away. I can't really help that... but nothing you do bothers me, Rox. Rather, everything you do makes me happy. This _mask_ as you call it, it's not necessarily a mask, but nor is it a true carefree act. I try my best to show you all my emotions, but there are a lot of them," he laughs lightly, smiling at me. "You can use me in any way you like, just as long as I use you in any way I like... like an equivalent exchange; and yes, I am trying to protect you, but not from myself... the world, more likely, because I don't want you to get hurt like you've been hurt in the past.

"One more thing... you're an idiot." I look at him, and he raises an eyebrow, giving me a crooked frown. "Who are you to judge whether not I've let you in? I've told you the secret I'd never told any of my friends before, _plus_ I've done with you what I've never done with anyone else, male or female. If that isn't letting someone in, then I don't know what is.

"I'm just... scared," I admit, sitting up slowly so as to not cause me too much pain. The blanket pools in my lap, covering all of my legs and keeping them warm. "I'm scared that I don't deserve this kindness."

"I'll be the judge of that, okay?" I nod at his words, and he smiles. "For now, just worry about being happy."

"Okay," I give him a smile, and he smiles in return at me.

"Go get dressed, Rox," he orders gently. "Or we'll miss all of the morning classes... I doubt they'll appreciate that." I laugh at his words.

"I'm sure they won't, Sor."

* * *

><p>That's all we asked for... a chance to live our lives without fear of others questioning us or regarding us with fear, wariness... disgust. How would I have known?<p>

Even now, I can still hear them. Oh gods, even when I clamp my hands over my ears, their voices find a way through my hands and piece into my skull. It's like a thousand tiny knives just _boring_ into your soul.

I expected more from people, really.

Sora taps his pencil on the textbook on my lap, making me look at him, my eyes trailing from the insects I was watching to his own eyes.

"Sorry, I got distracted," I say, smiling apologetically. Our legs brush together as I revert my attention into the book, looking to the formulas within the pages, frowning. He chews on the tip of his pencil; without looking at him I tap on his hand, making him glare at me. I ignore the glare. "Okay, so tell me exactly what it is you're unsure about."

"I don't understand any of it! Like, how exactly is that equal to _24n_? What the fuck is Mitosis and Meiosis anyways, and where the hell am I going to need this in a _music career?_" He asks, throwing his hands up in exasperation. I roll my eyes.

"First of all, Mitosis is the process that cells undergo to keep your sorry ass _alive_," I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. He grumbles under his breath, uncapping his pen and hovering the tip an inch from my skin. I retract my arm. "Meiosis is the reproduction of sex cells, got it?" He shakes his head. "For the love of all that's holy! How the fuck are you able to stay in Advanced Science?"

"How the hell should I know?" He asks, swiping my hand with his pen and leaving a black ink mark. I glare at him. "They put me there; I didn't ask for it!"

I put my hand to cover my eyes, sighing.

"Look at it this way: Mitosis equals you living; Meiosis equals shitlings."

"Shitlings?" He snickers, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes. You know those things that cry all damn day and beg to have their diapers changed?" I raise an eyebrow in return. "_Those_ shitlings."

"I see," he hums, putting a finger to his cheek. "So the first one is to keep me alive, and the second one is for knocking people up?"

My head meets my hand in a facepalm, and I shake my head.

"If you want to put it that way, go right ahead," I say, giving up. Sora grabs a piece of paper, uncapping his pen - swiping at my arm again and leaving a nice little trail of ink - and scribbles something on the piece of paper as I look over my shoulder at him.

"Okay, so explain to me this other shit..." he tells me, passing me the piece of paper. I frown at it, turning a page in the textbook as I read the paper.

_I really don't care about this, Rox. I couldn't care less... but have you noticed that the group over there keeps looking at us?_

"Do you know the formula for cell respiration?" I ask him, scribbling down my reply. _Yes, and it is getting quite annoying._ I pass the paper back to him.

"The fuck is that?" He asks, quickly writing down something with a grin.

_Why don't we give them something to stare at?_

"What makes you live, you moron. There are two types of ways it can be written," _What do you mean?_ "You have the simple way: Oxygen+Glucose=Flames+Carbon Dioxide+Water, and then there's the scientific way; O2+C6H12O6=Energy+Co2+H2O."

"I really don't understand that shit," he mutters, grinning. "Maybe you could tutor me more about it later?"

I narrow my eyes at his tone of voice.

He flashes me a grin, grabbing my chin and planting a kiss on my lips, making my words die in my mouth.

_I can't believe this is what he means by giving them something to look at,_ I think, sighing. _But making them freak _could_ prove to be fun._

True to that, my ears twitch as I pick up some squeals, managing to hear the most important part that makes me grin.

_"He's gay?"_

I pull away from Sora to laugh, clutching my sides as the textbook falls from my lap. He laughs as well, his laughter filling my ears as he literally _cracks up_ at it. It's contagious, making me laugh in return.

"Do you have a problem with that?" I call out to the girls sitting not far away - the ones who shouted that, mind you - once I stop laughing. They blush furiously, and I crack up again, tears forming in my eyes as I laugh.

* * *

><p><em>You told me you were going to protect her... we'd be happy together. The four of us.<em>

_What the fuck does your promise mean when I get to watch my mother die, and watch my older brother walk out on us because he's fucking _scared _of me. Don't you try to deny it - I fucking well know that you all blame me for mom's death. I haven't even talked to him in over eight years. How dare you call yourself a father to me?_

_You're not a father... not in my eyes._

* * *

><p><em>Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him that time after all...<em> I think, snapping my phone shut with one hand and looking to Sora as he sits down beside me. He's juggling Ramses in one hand and a bowl of cavity-inducing sour Skittles in the other hand. He places the bowl on my lap as he sits down, his cat settling down on his lap to sleep. I slip my phone back in my pocket, smiling at the brunette.

"I've been getting complaints all afternoon, you know," he starts, grinning as he flips through the channels on tv, looking for something interesting to watch. "The few people who tolerated me in school seem to now be wondering just why I've turned you gay."

"They can eat it," I mutter, popping a Skittle in my mouth to emphasize it. He laughs, setting the channel onto a random show, one that seems to make no sense to me. "If they don't like it, they can go away at any time."

"Hey, you want to see something funny?" He asks, and I look at him. "Come on," he takes my wrist, giving me enough time to put the bowl down on the coffee table before he pulls me over to the patio door, sliding it open and pulling me through.

"Okay... you've brought me to the patio..." I say slowly, looking at him with an eyebrow raised as he closes the door. "What's so special about it, may I ask?"

"Not the _patio_, Rox," he rolls his eyes, going to the edge and leaning over it. I cautiously do the same. "I used to do this when I was bored; the people who pass by often enough know. Look at how that old man will react."

The man he points to looks up, as if summoned, his old green eyes widening as he puts his hands over his head to protect it from something, speed walking below the balcony. I raise an eyebrow.

"You see how that young couple isn't really concerned? Watch," he grins, and waits until the couple is about directly below us. He leans over the edge, making me squeak and stretch out my hands slightly, worried - I don't fare well with heights - and he spits.

I look over the edge, ignoring the bout of vertigo, just as it hits the woman right on her forehead. He pulls his head back and pulls me along as well as she screams, laughing.

"_That's_ why the old man ran," he laughs, and I laugh a little too at the mental image of an old man getting hit with a spit wad. "Try it."

"Isn't that against the law...?" I ask, frowning at the edge. He rolls his eyes.

"What law?" He snorts, and I slowly place my hands on the railing, looking over the edge. I can feel his eyes on me as I grip the railing, my knuckles white. "Are you scared of heights?"

I flinch, looking back over my shoulder. He's looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

"A little," I admit, frowning and looking away from him. "I got stuck in a Ferris Wheel as a five-year-old at the top, and I had to be brought down by the fire department after two hours stuck up there with my older brother."

"Well, don't worry about a thing, Rox," Sora says with a smile. He stands beside me and puts a sure hand over my left hand, which causes me to loosen my grip on the railing a bit. "Nothing will hurt you."

"Somehow, that does little to reassure me," I smirk, teasing. He winces.

"I'm hurt," he says, feigning an injury to his heart as he holds his hand there. I smile at him, and he flicks me on my forehead. "How cold of you." He looks away from me, grinning.

"Aw, I'm sorry," I murmur in sympathy, turning my back to the ledge and putting my hands on his elbows. "Did I hurt you?"

"Yes," he pouts, laughing a little. I raise an eyebrow at his _super_ acting skills, and he sticks out his tongue at me. "And now you're mocking me. Way to add insult to injury."

"You know I'm just teasing," I laugh, poking his nose. He rolls his own eyes.

"It's still rude of you," he presses, and I sigh.

"Stop being such a baby," I shake my head in defeat. "Now come on, Sor. I think it's past your bedtime." I smirk at him.

"Oh you're just full of it," he laughs, disregarding the fact that it's nearly eleven. "Fine then, your majesty. We shall retire for the evening."

* * *

><p><em>"We don't have to worry about that now," I tell him, looking to the stars. He doesn't say a word. "For now, let's just focus on living."<em>

* * *

><p>Oh good gods this is by far the worst chapter so far, but it's been sitting in here for a while and I need to continue this fic, at least.<p> 


End file.
